This was just a small little one-shot that I had written a while back. I revised it a little, and published it here. However, if anyone wants me to continue it, that would be just dandy. I have a few ideas as to where this story could go. Thank you!

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO

XXXXX

Wind blew slowly over a flat green field, brushing up against blades of grass and leaves in the trees. Night had covered the sky, and the moon cast its dull, calming light. Lying under the stars, was a group of four ninja. Three of which were asleep while the other kept watch.

The ninja that was still awake gazed into a small makeshift fireplace with glowing embers, remnants of the fire that had once been there. The ninja, was Naruko Uzumaki, a young genin, determined to prove herself to the world. She was a small petite girl with a cute little face that held whisker birthmarks. Her long blond hair cascaded down her back, stopping a bit short of her hips, and crystal blue eyes shined in the dark. These very eyes filled with warmth as she observed the rest of her team sleeping. This was her family.

She looked at the biggest person laying down, her sensei Kakashi Hatake, a man with gravity defying hair, and a reputation of an A-rank ninja. This man was someone she could trust with her life, someone who could help her become a better ninja, while still depending on him as support. She didn't mind some of his strange quirks like being late, or constantly reading some inappropriate novels in front of his own team of twelve year olds. He was a wonderful sensei who taught her a lot, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

Naruko then shifted her gaze towards another sleeping ninja. Sakura Haruno, a feisty pink haired girl with strength to reinforce her anger problems. Despite always hitting and scolding the blond, Naruko figured that this young girl was probably her first female friend ever. This meant a lot to Naruko, as she found out through her childhood that having friends is one of the most enjoyable aspects of life.

Lastly Naruko looked towards her final teammate, Sasuke Uchiha. Her lips formed a small smile at the thought of this young boy. When he first joined Team 7, she had thought he was a dark, narcissistic loner, only interested in becoming powerful, even at the cost of abandoning his teammates. Her view changed after her very first mission with him. While she was down, Sasuke leapt to her side and took multiple hits from senbon needles, an almost fatal attack, simply to protect her. She was surprised by the action, and decided to get to know the boy better.

After the chuunin exams and the attack on the leaf a few weeks ago, Naruko had learned that Sasuke had a curse mark placed on him by the evil snake sannin, Orochimaru. Despite, the awesome power that the mark gave him, Sasuke chose to refrain from using such an evil power. Something that Naruko had respected Sasuke greatly for.

Now here they were, gathered as a family, and camping out after completing a mission that was a little ways away from her home village. She was to keep a lookout for a couple hours then wake up Sakura for her shift, however she never planned on doing so.

See, Naruko was a quiet girl growing up, always alone, and always afraid. She longed for a friend, even just an acquaintance, however it was because she held the Kyuubi, a mighty beast that had attacked her village twelve years ago, that adults and children avoided her. It's not that the children knew of her secret. It was forbidden for the adults to tell them, however, that didn't stop the adults from telling their children that she was bad news, something they should not hang around. She figured that because of the way she was brought up, that she treasured the people that were close to her, and would sacrifice her health so they wouldn't have to struggle, even over something as trivial as a night watch.

Yes, Naruko decided, she would not wake up Sakura, or any of her team. They needed the rest, and who was she to interrupt them. It didn't matter to her if she was tired.

"Idiot" A whisper pierced the silence of the night.

Naruko looked at the source of the voice, slightly shocked that someone on her team was up. Sasuke. The boy sat up and rubbed his eyes from sleep, and glared at the blond.

"Why aren't you waking Sakura? It was her shift almost an hour ago". He whispered with annoyance at Naruko.

Naruko deciding to act clueless in the situation began to scratch the back of head.

"Ah...is it time already? I must have forgot." She whispered to the boy.

With a sigh the boy stood up and walked over to the tree that Naruko had been leaning on, and plopped himself down beside her. He crossed his fingers together and held them over his mouth as if thinking of something to say.

"Ne...Sasuke, it's almost daylight anyway. I can handle a couple more hours." She said quietly.

Dark obsidian eyes glanced toward the small girl as Sasuke was trying to understand what was up with his dope of a teammate.

"Hn...You should sleep, wouldn't want you slow us down tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll wake Sa-." Naruko whispered before Sasuke grabbed her arm, halting her speech.

"Don't, it'd be a bother to wake her up, I'll watch" Sasuke said.

Naruko nodded and tilted her head against the tree and closed her eyes. She wasn't going to admit it to Sasuke, but she was extremely tired. Although she assumed he might already know that since she didn't try to argue with him. Then, the girl had a thought. This was one of the only times in which she could speak to Sasuke privately, something she had always wanted to do, but never found the time.

"Sasuke...we are friends right?" she asked while keeping her eyes closed.

"Go to sleep…" Was the Uchiha's quiet response.

Silence reigned over the night and Naruko was a little disheartened at the young genin's response.

"Yes"

Naruko's eyes opened slightly and she tilted her head towards her teammate who was right beside her. She smiled and stared at the boy with happiness in her eyes. That was until she saw the curse mark resting on his shoulder, with another seal surrounding it.

"If I asked you something personal, would you answer?" Naruko whispered.

"Depends."

"D-does it hurt...your curse mark?" The blond asked.

Sasuke shifted his gaze to his female teammate, and Naruko suddenly found herself staring at the ground, not wanting to have eye contact with a person whom she just asked a sensitive question.

"Not really... it used to hurt before Kakashi-sensei had added the second seal. Now...it just feels like a heavy burden." Sasuke said, surprising himself with how open he was being with his idiot rival, but in this situation, he could tell the Naruko wasn't just talking to talk. He assumed she was just wanting to know him better.

"I know the feeling." Naruko whispered to herself, hoping that Sasuke hadn't heard what she said. She was too busy thinking of how relatable Sasuke's situation was, that she had said something she shouldn't have.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his teammate, slightly upset at her response to his description of the curse mark. How could she possibly know what it felt like? Was she just trying to comfort him? He didn't need her pity.

"Hn...Don't say something you don't mean to make me feel better. I don't need that." He whispered harshly.

Naruko had been stunned by his words, and also slightly hurt. She could feel his anger laced with each whispered word, she wanted to let him know that she wasn't just making stuff up.

"I- I do know...I-" She whispered trying to decide if she could trust her teammate with a secret that she has kept for a long time now, even if she unknowingly kept it for most of her life.

"How?" Sasuke growled. Naruko winced at his tone. Clearly Sasuke had been upset.

She decided lift up the bottom of her shirt just barely exposing her flat stomach. Sasuke looked away from the scene slightly blushing at what he thought Naruko was doing. A blue glow made Sasuke look back towards Naruko as he saw that she held her shirt just below the center of her chest, and he could see a glowing blue seal, that circled around her belly button.

"What?" Sasuke asked slightly stunned.

Naruko placed her shirt back down as the seal faded away, melting back into her tan skin.

"I, I also have a seal on me... It, holds something evil and… and I just wanted to tell somebody...anybody." Naruko stated whispering.

"I didn't know…" Sasuke said, surprised that his teammate had trusted him with her secret.

"What is held within the seal?" Sasuke asked.

Naruko looked away from the boy and gazed back towards the glowing embers in the fire pit.

"I can't say...Maybe in the future…" She whispered with a saddened tone to her voice.

The two remained silent for quite some time after that discussion, not knowing what to say. That is until Sasuke broke the silence.

"You know, you and I, we're different from others our age... You never had parents and I lost mine, and we both carry large burdens on our shoulders. We should look out for each other more often." He whispered, hoping that Naruko had just gone to sleep. However he heard a deep happy sigh from the girl beside him.

"I would like that a lot." She said quietly, feeling her cheeks warm at what the black haired Uchiha had said. Happiness consumed her thoughts as she leaned onto his shoulder with her eyes closed.

"Oi! Get off! That doesn't mean you can sleep on me!" Sasuke whispered harshly. His only response was Naruko's soft breathing as she had already fallen asleep.

"Oi!"

This was her family.

XXXXX

Yeah so that's that! Leave a comment or review if you liked it or didn't like it. Anything that can improve my skills as an author would be greatly appreciated, and if a lot of people want me to continue this story, just PM me or like I said earlier, leave a comment! I will still be writing my other story "The Runner of Konoha" so this story won't interfere with my time on that one. I think I can handle writing both if necessary. ANYWAY, BYE BYE!