Six years after the Kyubi attack
Three years had passed after the incident with Kumogakure, known as the "Hyuga Affair", in which fortunately, there was nothing that threatened Konoha's stability, and it could continue its recovery from the Kyubi attack. That doesn't mean that nothing eventful happened in Konoha. Plenty of things, actually. Among those worth mentioning was the new members of the Senju Family.
Shortly before the meeting with the Raikage, Tsunade became even moodier than usual, had morning sickness, and her hunger skyrocketed. After performing a few tests, it was confirmed that Tsunade was indeed pregnant.
Though not everybody reacted to the news with joy and jubilation.
FLASHBACK
"Shizune, where the hell is my sake!?" Tsunade roared as she furiously inspected all the house's cabinets, looking for her best friend.
"I...I hid it away!" the young kunoichi replied between stutters.
"YOU DID WHAT!?"
"I did it for your own good!"
"Shizune, we already talked about this! I'm old enough to-"
"I don't mean that! Tsunade-sama, you're pregnant now, you can't drink alcohol, or else it may damage the baby!"
Tsunade was rendered silent as Shizune's words started to sink in. Nine months without her best friend to help her go through the pains of pregnancy? She fell on her knees.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Her anguished yell was heard across all the elemental nations.
END FLASHBACK
Coincidentally, the crystal on Tsunade's necklace, who used to belong to the First Hokage and it is said to bear his chakra, started to glow. Very dimly at first, but progressively brighter as the pregnancy went on. It also glowed brighter when closer to Tsunade's growing belly.
And the surprises didn't end there. Turn out Tsunade gave birth to twins.
FLASHBACK
Tsunade was in a hospital bed, with holding newborn babies with blankets wrapped around them, on each arm. At her sides were Jiraiya, Shizune and Naruto.
"So, have you thought how are you going to name them?" Shizune asked.
"Yes. The girl is Kaida," Jiraiya said.
"And the boy 's name is Hagane," Tsunade said.
"Can I hold a baby? Can I? Please? Please? Please!?" Naruto said, jumping up and down.
"Okay, but be careful, and hold him tight, okay?" Tsunade said as she handed Hagane to Naruto.
"I know, I'm not stupid!" Naruto said as she held the baby, which weighed more than he had expected. "Hey there, I'm Naruto, your big bro!"
Shizune, meanwhile, was holding Kaida. "They are perfect, aren't they?"
"Indeed. I've been waiting nine months for this moment," Tsunade said as she looked at her children, smiling sweetly. Then she looked at Shizune. "Shizune, bring me my damn sake."
END FLASHBACK
Turned out, the necklace also reacted whenever it was near the twins. Nobody could figure out why, but they knew it meant something.
Soon after the twins' birth, Naruto turned four, and the two Sannin decided that it was time to start his ninja training, at least the basics. He would join the Academy in two years, and they wanted him to be as prepared as possible. The little blond kid couldn't be happier. However, said happiness didn't last long when instead of cool jutsus or at least taijutsu combos, all what Jiraiya and Tsunade taught him was chakra control exercises, hand seals and basic taijutsu forms.
Naruto's training routine consisted in mostly practicing simple punches and kicks against a small cushioned training dummy, practicing hand seals, and chakra control exercises that consisted mostly in keeping a leaf stuck to his forehead using chakra. Whenever he completed that exercise, they simply told him that the next time he would have to keep it longer.
Unfortunately for Tsunade and Jiraiya, Naruto's attention span was nonexistent, and he could barely focus on a task that he deemed too boring and uncool, regardless of how many times the two Sannin told him that he had to master the basics first before they could teach him the "cooler" stuff.
It wasn't until a year and a half (though to Naruto it felt much longer) than the blond Jinchuriki would learn his first jutsu.
FLASHBACK
"Alright Naruto, your mother and I decided that your chakra control is good enough to teach you your first jutsu," Jiraiya said.
"YAY! Finally!" Naruto said, starry-eyed, as he pumped his fist while leaping in the air.
"To show you how this jutsu works, I need you to attack me first, so give me your worst hit."
"Alright!" Naruto said as he took some steps back. He then charged at Jiraiya and leaped in order to hit him with a flying kick. "DRAGON KICK OF AWESOME FURY!"
Naruto barely noticed his adoptive father going through a series of hand seals, and a second after Naruto's foot landed on Jiraiya's chest, the white haired Sannin disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving a log in its place.
"What?"
"I believe this is something you'd call 'cool', right?" Jiraiya said from behind him.
Naruto turned around, startled. "How did you do that?"
"This is a technique called Body Replacement Jutsu. You replace your body with some other object the moment you're hit. Not only is very useful to avoid fatal blows, but it's also perfect to set an ambush to an unsuspecting enemy."
"WHOA! Please, teach me how to do it!"
"First, you must learn to do the hand seals quickly. The sequence is Tiger, Boar, Ox, Dog and Snake. We will repeat it until you can do it fast enough. Then..."
END FLASHBACK
After practicing the technique for a few months, Naruto hadn't mastered the Body Replacement yet. He still had some trouble with the hand seals. But that didn't let him down. After all, most kids didn't learn that technique until they were in the Academy, so he'd have that advantage over them.
Besides, today was a good day. It was the first time he ever saw snow in Konoha, and he had a really fun snowball fight with his family. Then, after lunch, he went to enroll the Academy, and now was on his way home to tell his parents. He was so excited to finally become a real ninja!
"Your eyes are so creepy!"
"Huh?" Naruto said, looking around for the source of the voice. He could tell it was the voice of a boy his age
"I'm sure you're a monster!" another voice said.
Naruto felt a chill going up his spine. Monster. He remembered the talk he had with his parents a couple weeks before his sixth birthday.
FLASHBACK
"Naruto, listen up, you will be six soon, and your mother and I decided it was time for you to know some important things," Jiraiya stated, as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. He was rather serious, as opposed to his usual carefree demeanor.
"We want you to learn these things from us rather than somebody else," Tsunade's mood mirrored her husband's.
"It is something bad I did?" Naruto asked, genuinely worried.
"No, no, of course not," Tsunade reassured in a sweet tone. "It's just...well, it's that we...you..."
"We are not your real parents," Jiraiya stated. Naruto gasped in shock.
"JIRAIYA!" Tsunade shouted at the white haired man, who flinched.
"What? You were taking too damn long!"
"Nevermind. Listen Naruto, you know what happened almost six years ago?"
"Yes. A demon fox named the Kyubi attacked Konoha, and the Fourth Hokage killed it, but he died in the process."
"You see, Naruto, that's not entirely true," Jiraiya said, looking Naruto in the eyes. "Turns out the Kyubi is far too powerful to be killed like that. Not even by somebody as strong as the Fourth. The best he could do was seal the demon inside somebody else. And that somebody else...it was you, Naruto."
"WHAT? And why would the Fourth Hokage do that? And who are my real parents then? Wait, does that means that the Demon Fox is going to hurt me!?"
"Of course not! The seal that keeps the demon imprisoned inside you is very strong and will protect everybody, yourself included. Besides, you didn't even suspect that there was a demon inside you until we told you, right? You didn't feel that there was something wrong going on?" Tsunade told him in a reassuring tone.
"No..."
"As to answer your questions...the reason the Fourth choose you was because you have a special kind of chakra that will help keep the Kyubi imprisoned. If he choose somebody else, the Demon Fox would have escaped and continued its rampage. He also believed that in the future, you could use the Kyubi's power for good."
"I-I see..." Naruto said, feeling that he was about to cry. "So that's why when we I go out, people avoid me, and grownups tell kids not to stay near me? Because they're afraid of the Kyubi?"
Both Sannin nodded sadly.
"And to answer your second question...your father was the Fourth Hokage himself, Minato Namikaze," Jiraiya said. Naruto was now speechless. Tears started to come from his eyes. "Your mother was Kushina Uzumaki, the last known member of the Uzumaki clan. That's why your father decided you should inherit her last name instead of his, since he was born to a no-name civilian family of fishers," Jiraiya explained.
"So my father died fighting the Kyubi...and my mother?"
"She died during the attack too. Many people died. And people who lost somebody precious that day will mistakenly blame you for the Kyubi's actions. But don't let them affect you, Naruto."
Naruto broke down crying. It was too much for his little heart to take. Jiraiya and Tsunade did the only thing they could and hugged their adopted son. Naruto cried his eyes out for nearly twenty minutes.
"Listen Naruto, we understand you may be angry with us for not telling you this sooner," Jiraiya whispered, without breaking the hug.
"But we will always love you, and we will always be here whenever you need us," Tsunade added.
After wiping the tears from his face and the snots from his nose, Naruto opened his mouth to speak again.
"D-don't worry guys...I-I'm not angry...a-and...I don't care what other people said. You guys don't consider me a monster, and that's what matters. And if they still think I am...I will prove them wrong! I'll become the greatest ninja who ever lived! I will become Hokage, just like my father!"
Naruto suddenly felt guilty for calling his father to a practical stranger in front of the people who raised him, but they didn't seem to mind.
For a second, when Naruto declared his bold dream, Tsunade saw his little brother Nawaki and his former lover Dan in Naruto. She felt worried that Naruto's path would lead him to the same doom as them, but part of her reassured her that it wouldn't be the case. That Naruto would succeed where others had failed. That she should have faith in him.
"Of course you will, kiddo," Tsunade cheered softly.
"Yeah, you'll show him who's the boss," Jiraiya added.
"Thank you, err...even if you're not my real parents...can I still call you Mom and Dad?"
This time, it was the two Sannin's turn to break down in tears.
END FLASHBACK
Tracking the voice, Naruto found a trio of boys surrounding a girl his age. The girl had short dark blue hair and very pale eyes. She was on the verge of tears.
"Yes, the Byakugan monster, right?" one of the boys said.
The girl couldn't take it anymore, and fell on her knees, crying. Such shameful display made Naruto's blood boil with anger.
"Hey, stop it!" Naruto yelled as he rushed towards them.
"Uh, what do you want, dork?" one of the boys asked.
"Hey, I know this guy! He's the Demon Fox!" another kid said.
"Of course, the Demon Boy would defend the Demon Girl, right?" teased the first kid.
"I'm not a demon, and neither is she! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the future Hokage!"
"Future Hokage? Ha!" the third kid laughed.
"You know, my parents said to stay away of you, that you're dangerous. But now that I see you, you don't look that dangerous. In fact, you look like a wimp!"
"Come on, let's teach this demon brat not to mess with much stronger people!" the first kid said as he reared his fist back.
The blue haired girl gasped when the kid's fist connected with Naruto's face. Naruto didn't flinch.
"You call that a punch? My mom punches way harder than that."
With a quick movement, Naruto pushed the first kid's fist out of his face as he punched him in the face as well. The punch knocked the first kid on his butt.
"Ha! Take that!" Naruto cheered.
However, the blond Jinchuriki didn't see the other two bullies coming at him. One of them punched him in the guts, while the other pushed him back into the snow. Naruto gasped for air as he grabbed his pained stomach. He could hear the other two kids coming at him. Suddenly, he remembered something Jiraiya had told him during their trainings.
Look around you and try to use your surroundings to your advantage.
There were lots of snow, so he could use that.
"Hey, he's getting up, I think he wants to be beaten more!" one of the bullies laughed.
As fast as he could, Naruto turned around and tossed some snow at the bullies' faces. His throw was accurate enough to hit the intended targets.
"My eyes!" both of them screamed in unison, as they threw their hands to their eyes.
Taking advantage of their momentary blindness, Naruto grabbed the larger of the two bullies and pushed him against the smaller one, and both of them ended on the ground. One of them got up quickier than Naruto had anticipated, and landed a punch on Naruto's face. Naruto replied with a punch to the gut, and quickly kicked that kid onto his fallen friend.
"YOU'RE DEAD!"
Naruto turned around and saw the bully he punched first charging at him, holding a rather large tree branch. His instinct screamed at him to dodge, but instead he decided to try something else, and his hands formed five seals.
When the first bully hit Naruto in the face with the branch, Naruto disappeared in cloud of smoke, leaving a pile of snow instead.
"Yes! It worked!"
"What the hell!? Can he use ninjutsu!?" the bully said, angry but now also shocked. He looked around. "Where did he go?"
"DRAGON KICK OF AWESOME FURY!" Naruto yelled as he leaped at the bully from the branch he had just teleported, kicking him in the face, knocking him backwards. "Did you have enough already, or you want more? Because I can go for longer if you want!"
Deciding that they had enough, the three bullies got up and ran away.
"And pray I don't catch you again making a girl cry!" Naruto yelled as he saw the three bullies disappearing from his sight. "Especially a blind girl!"
Naruto walked towards said girl, who didn't move from her spot since the fight broke out.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Y-yes...thank you..." the blue haired girl said. "But...umm...I-I am not blind."
"You're not?" Naruto asked, a bit shocked. He moved closer to her, making the girl blush. "I saw your eyes and I thought...oh sorry then!" Naruto said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head.
"And you? You have an eye swollen and a bloody nose," the girl pointed out, a bit worried.
"This? Ah, this is nothing! Mom is a medic and will heal it in an instant, hehe!"
The girl stared at Naruto without uttering a word.
"Well, I gotta go! As you just saw, I'm a ninja! I just enrolled in the Academy and I have to tell my parents! See ya!" Naruto said as he left the scene at a quick pace.
…
"W-wait...!" Hinata said, but the boy, named Naruto, was already too far away and he didn't hear her.
Hinata cursed her indecisiveness. There were so many things she wanted to talk about with him. She didn't ask him his name –even if she heard it–, and she didn't give him hers. But he had said he was a ninja, and that he had enrolled the academy. He looked to be the same age as hers, so maybe they would be in the same class.
Those kids called him the "Demon Fox". Does that mean that he was the kid with the Kyubi sealed inside him? She remembered some of the clan grownups telling her that if she ever crossed paths with him, to avoid him at all costs, that he was dangerous, and a monster.
But he defended her from not one but three bullies, and fought them all at once. How can somebody so kind and selfless could be dangerous or a monster?
A certain feeling that Hinata's young mind couldn't identify formed inside her. For some reason, she felt she needed to see this boy again.
…
A couple months later
At the Dango Shop, Shizune was having lunch with Itachi Uchiha, and two of his clansmen. The first one was Shisui, a teen a few years older than Itachi and a couple years younger than Shizune, who had short, dark gray hair and black eyes, which were so common among the Uchiha. The other one was a kid of about the same age as Naruto, who also had dark hair with two bangs falling over his face, and the same black eyes. This kid was Itachi's younger brother, Sasuke.
While Shizune felt out of place, being the only one not being an Uchiha, Itachi insisted on her joining them. She couldn't pinpoint when it happened exactly, but she and Itachi had become friends during the past few years. They even sparred quite a few times, and Shizune even helped him and his team prepare the Chunin Exam.
Itachi was treating them at one of his favorite spots to celebrate his first successful mission as a team leader. Shizune felt hard to believe that this kid, who was barely eleven, could have ascended to the rank of Chunin so quick, when most kids his age didn't even had graduated the Academy yet.
"So, tell us, Itachi –and be honest–, were you afraid during the mission?" Shizune asked.
"Well, I'd lie if I said I wasn't. Maybe a little," Itachi replied.
"Only a little? Man, when I led my first mission, I was such a nervous wreck I couldn't sleep the night before. But then again it wasn't as bad as it appeared," Shisui said with a laugh.
"But Itachi-niisan completed lots of dangerous missions, while he should be scared?" Sasuke asked.
"Sasuke, when you're the leader of a team, everything changes. Not only you're responsible of the mission being a success, but you have to make sure that all your teammates come back home alive and, if possible, without any missing limb," Shisui explained.
"But if you have to take care of your teammates...that doesn't mean they're a burden to you? Then why didn't Itachi go to the mission alone?"
"Because some missions can't be done by one ninja," Shizune explained. "If you need to break down a door reinforced with protective seals, you need a seal master to disable them. If you're in a search and rescue mission, you'll need a sensor and most likely a medic. And sometimes is also a matter of numbers, since there will be times in which two or more people will need to be at two or more different places at the same time. Do you understand, Sasuke-kun?"
The youngest Uchiha nodded.
"Shizune-san is right. Being a powerful ninja on your own is fine, but there will be times in which your power won't be enough and you'll need the help of others," Shisui added.
"By the way Sasuke, how is the Academy?" Itachi asked.
"Eh, it's okay, I guess. They teach me mostly stuff I already know, so it's kind of boring. At the very least, the shuriken and kunai toss practice and taijutsu practice are nice," Sasuke said with a shrug.
"You know, my...little brother also goes to the academy," Shizune mentioned. "His name is Naruto. Did you see him?"
"Naruto? Does he have spiky blond hair, is super loud and claims every five seconds that he's going to be Hokage?"
Shizune chuckled. "Well, that's an accurate description of him. I presume that you met him then."
"I did. For some reason he likes to sit besides me. And no offense to Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama, but given who their parents are, I expected him to be stronger."
"Well, you could say that Naruto-kun has some trouble focusing. His body moves way faster than his brain does. But we're working on it," Shizune said, and laughed.
"He looks like an interesting fellow. Maybe you should befriend him," Shisui suggested.
"In fact, I was about to take him to the park. Do you want to join us, Sasuke-kun?" Shizune asked.
"Eh, pass. Itachi promised to train me when he came back. Maybe another day," Sasuke replied with a dismissive hand wave.
"Come on kid, I'm sure you'll have fun. There's more to life than training," Shusui insisted.
"Eh, it's okay. I don't want him to come against his will. Like he said, maybe another day. I'll better get going. Itachi-kun, congratulations again for your first mission as team leader. Shisui-san, Sasuke-kun, it was nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too, Shizune-san," Shisui replied. Then, once the young woman was gone, he leaned towards Itachi, and whispered: "Man, that friend of yours is really cute. Do you know if she has a boyfriend?"
...
Just like how Hinata had predicted, she and Naruto were in the same class. However, the terribly shy girl couldn't gather the confidence to talk to him again. And much to her dismay, Naruto never noticed her. Not only did he forget about her, it was almost as if she didn't exist to him!
But deep down she knew there was nobody to blame but herself. She followed him many times after class. He usually went to that ramen restaurant named Icharaku's, sometimes he went directly to his home, while other times went to one of Konoha's training grounds where one of his parents was already waiting for him for a training session. Hinata's surprise was major when she found out that his parents were Jiraiya and Tsunade, two of the Legendary Sannin and the heroes of the Second War that appeared in the history books.
Hinata also noticed that, whenever Naruto went to a park to play with other kids, their parents would pick them up and take them somewhere else, leaving poor Naruto playing alone. Did they seriously believe that he was a monster? Couldn't they see that he was a kid like any other?
Today one of those days. Naruto arrived at a park with a small pig and his...older sister? And the kids who didn't left on their own were taken out of there by their parents.
Hinata really wanted to go there and play with Naruto. She really did. But the moment she took a step forward, her chronic shyness manifested in full force and left her frozen in place. She needed somebody to give her a little push.
Fortunately for her, she was now seeing that somebody.
…
Shizune sighed as she watched all the kids leaving the playground, not before some of the parents shot angry glares at her and her almost-little brother, while Naruto slumped sadly. This happened way too often.
"Don't worry Naruto, we don't need them. What do you want to do?" the black haired kunoichi asked, trying to hide her annoyance and remaining optimist.
"The swings!" he said as he rushed towards them.
She didn't need to ask if she wanted her to push him.
Shizune was expecting that now that he finally started the Academy, Naruto could make some friends his age, but such thing didn't happen.
In fact, both her and the two Sannin were a bit worried with Naruto's current performance at the Academy. The boy would more often than not ignore the teacher when explaining something he wasn't interested in, loudly complained about how "boring" their lessons were and demanding them to teach him "some cool jutsus".
He would also boast about how strong he was for his age and how he was going to become Hokage –fortunately he never revealed who his biological parents were– and often challenged the other boys, especially Sasuke Uchiha, to one on one duels, and was rather fond of pulling pranks, to both the teachers and his classmates.
It was obvious that the kid desperately needed a friend his age, that way he wouldn't be victim of a constant need to prove how "awesome" he was to everybody.
Suddenly, Shizune heard something. A noise coming from the trees near the park. While she wasn't a sensor, her senses were sharp enough to perceive that somebody was watching them hidden behind those trees.
"Naruto-kun, I need to find a restroom. I'll leave you alone with Tonton for some minutes, okay?"
"Sure, take your time, neechan!" Naruto happily replied. Shizune then disappeared in a cloud of smoke, puzzling the blonde. "She used the Body Flicker? Guess that she really needed to go."
…
Hinata was a bit startled when Naruto's older sister disappeared like that. She didn't quite catch what she told him. Naruto was there, all alone, by himself. The perfect opportunity to go an talk to him. But even then, Hinata still couldn't muster the courage to go and talk to him like that. No, she needed to find a way to draw his attention, to make him take the first step.
"Ahem," a voice behind her said.
"EEEP!" Hinata squealed in shock as she turned around and saw Naruto's older sister staring down at her, arms crossed over her chest.
"Didn't your parents teach you that spying on people is rude?" Shizune asked.
"Sorry! Err, I...uhmm...I didn't mean to...ehh..." Hinata babbled, her words tumbling into an unintelligible stuttering mess.
Shizune took a better look at the panicking girl. "Hey, Naruto said that he saved a girl with weird looking eyes from a bunch of bullies the day he enrolled in the Academy. It was you?"
"N-Naruto-kun said my eyes are weird looking...?" Hinata said, disheartened.
Shizune cursed inwardly for using Naruto's choice of words instead of something far less insensitive.
"Uh...I'm sure he didn't mean it as an insult," Shizune assured. "You didn't answer my question. What are you doing here?"
"I...well...I-I wanted to...to thank Naruto-kun again for h-helping me against t-those three bullies..."
Shizune couldn't repress a smile."Three? Weren't they ten, Naruto? And as big as Jiraiya-sama?"
"Then why aren't you doing that instead of stalking him from here?" Hinata blushed, and averted her gaze.
"Oh, I see, this girl is way too shy to talk to him directly. Let's see if I can do something about it."
"What's your name, girl? I'm Shizune Kato."
"H-Hinata Hyuga. Pleased to meet you, Shizune-san."
"Just Shizune is okay," the medic-nin said, smiling. "Say, Hinata, would you like to do something for Naruto as a way to thank him?"
"Y-yes, of course!" the Hyuga replied.
"Take a look at Naruto. What do you think he'd like the most this moment?"
Hinata saw Naruto swinging sadly in the empty park. The answer was obvious.
"H-he'd like for a f-friend to play with him..." Hinata stuttered.
"Correct. Now you know what you must do."
"W-WHAT?"
Was this woman expecting to just walk over Naruto and play with him? Just like that? Was she mad?
Shizune smiled at her. "Come on, I can see in your eyes that you want to play with him more than anything."
"Y-yes...b-but..."
"Or I can tell Naruto that not only were you spying on him and didn't even bother to say him hello."
"PLEASE NO! O-Okay, okay, I'll do it!" the Hyuga almost shouted, extremely flustered.
"Then you better hurry. I don't think Naruto will be there for much longer until he gets bored."
Hinata nodded, and gulped. The shy Hyuga started her walk towards the blond, silent enough not to reveal her presence too soon, she didn't want him to think she was some creepy stalker. After reaching what she deemed a safe distance, she dropped the stealth and walked normally. Or as normal as she could. Still, the boy was too enraptured in his own thoughts to notice her.
"H-Hello!" Hinata timidly waved her hand at him.
Hinata's sudden salute snapped Naruto from his thoughts, and turned his head at her, and smiled. "Oh, hi!"
Hinata blushed furiously. There was something about that smile that was so damn dreamy. Forcing herself to calm down, she proceed to introduce herself. "Hinata!"
Naruto titled his head and looked at her puzzled. "What?"
Hinata was so angry at herself. Did she just shouted her name like that? She was aware that she wasn't the most social or eloquent person out there, but that was just too much.
"I mean...m-my name is Hinata Hyuga...what is y-yours?" the shy girl asked, even if she knew the answer.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage!" Naruto proudly proclaimed. "Say, your face looks kind of familiar, did we meet before?"
"A-actually we're c-classmates...didn't you s-see me before?"
"Nope, sorry. Then again, there's a lot of people at class. I only remember the people that sit near me."
Hinata was a bit hurt that Naruto wasn't even aware that she was in the same class as him, but deep down she knew that it was also her fault for not talking to him first. If she always sat far away from him and never opened her mouth except when the teacher asked her something, how she could expect him to know her?
"Y-you also helped m-me against s-some bullies t-that w-were insulting m-me some months ago..." Hinata said as she started twiddling her forefingers.
"Oh, you're THAT girl!" Naruto said in realization. "Did they harass you again? Because if they did then I'm going to beat them even harder!" Naruto loudly said as he punched his palm.
"N-no, it's fine, n-nobody bullied me since t-then...by the way- w-what are y-you doing?"
"Well, I came here to play with other kids, but nobody wants to play with me, and playing alone gets boring rather quickly. So I'm waiting for Shizune-neechan to come back from the bathroom so we can go home and maybe train a bit with mom and dad."
The Hyuga decided it was time to make her move. Hinata's heart was beating so hard she could swear it would come out of her mouth at any time.
"Oh...err...c-can I p-play with y-you u-until she c-comes b-back?" Hinata asked, blushing harder than ever. She couldn't believe she was doing this.
Naruto's eyes opened widely, gleaming with joy, as his mouth curved into a wide smile. "You want to play with me!? Really!? But I am-"
"Y-yes, I know, t-the Nine Tails...b-but I don't think that having a demon s-sealed inside you m-makes you a d-demon...a demon w-wouldn't have defended m-me against those b-bullies..."
"So you want to be my friend? Like, for real?" Naruto asked, still in disbelief. Hinata nodded. Naruto's smile grew even wider. He finally had a friend! For a moment he thought that if this girl wanted to be his friend and was one of his classmates, then why she never talked to him before. But he was too happy to care about that.
"So...w-what are you playing?"
"The swings! Don't you know how do you play on a swing?" Hinata shook her head. "Then we'll have to fix that! Come on, sit over there!" Hinata did what Naruto said, and sat on the vacant swing besides him. "Now you need to move your body forwards in order to move the swing. Use your legs to help."
Hinata tried several times, but she was unable to make the swing budge.
"I-It doesn't work...I'm sorry Naruto-kun..." Hinata said, a bit saddened.
"It's okay, I can push you!"
Before Hinata could say anything, Naruto got down from his swing and started to push Hinata. The shy Hyuga felt a knot forming in her stomach upon seeing how high the swing went –Naruto was pushing her with all his strength– but at the same time, she couldn't help but enjoy the excitement of that simple game. She was having so much fun...and she didn't remember the last time she had such a great time until now.
"Alright, now that you have enough momentum, try to keep it going yourself! Remember, use your legs to make more force!" Naruto said as he quickly returned to his swing and joined her.
Shizune choose that moment to return.
"Hey Naruto-kun, I'm back!" the young kunoichi said.
"Shizune-neechan!" Naruto said as he jumped from the swing, still mid air, and landed on his feet in front of her. His joy was so big that he didn't realize that Shizune's "bathroom break" had lasted almost an hour. "You're not going to believe this! I made a friend! Hinata, come here!"
Hinata got down from the swing and walked towards Naruto and Shizune.
"Really? That's so great, Naruto-kun!" Shizune said with fake surprise. Fortunately for her, Naruto was naive enough to buy. Her joy, however, was very real.
"Hello, Shizune-san, I mean, Shizune. I'm Hinata Hyuga," Hinata said, bowing respectfully.
"And she even goes to my class at the Academy! That means we can see each other every day!" Naruto said, bouncing in joy.
"I'm so glad for you, Naruto-kun," Shizune said, ruffling Naruto's hair. "Say, it's getting a bit late, shall we go back home?"
"So soon? But I want to play with Hinata more!" Naruto pouted.
"I-It's okay, Naruto-kun, we can see each other tomorrow again. In fact, I s-should be going b-back home too, I d-don't want to w-worry my parents," Hinata said, twiddling her fingers.
"Bummer. Okay then, see you tomorrow, Hinata!" Naruto said as he left with Shizune.
"See you tomorrow, Naruto-kun," Hinata replied as she headed back to the Hyuga compound.
Hinata would always remember this day as one of the best of her life. Not only she had made her first friend and had a great time playing with him, but she could tell that she made Naruto so happy as well. In fact, Hinata even managed to forget her worries about her mother's declining health after the birth of Hanabi. She couldn't wait to get back home and tell her parents about Naruto.
Then she stopped on her tracks. Almost the entire village avoided Naruto because of the Kyubi. Would her parents disprove of her friendship with him? The thought filled her with dread. She didn't want to lose him. But on the other hand...she was sure that once they meet Naruto, they would see how kind and funny he was –not to mention strong–, and they wouldn't have any reason to object.