Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

"It's your fault that we lost"

A loud voice boomed from the windows of the gymnasium and Uzumaki Naruto paused in front of the large building towering over her. Digging her hands through the shorts of her gym uniform, the blue-eyed girl inched closer to the open doors of the gym. From right behind her, she could hear her female classmates giggling and laughing as they talked about their plans for the weekend.

"S-Sorry!" A boy squeaked and Naruto knitted her eyebrows. That voice sounded familiar, a sound that she must have heard a thousand times but where had she heard it before? Was it in class? In her workplace? Or was it in the park? Either way, the squeak reminded her of someone. Knitting her eyebrows together, Naruto peeked through the doors of the gym and her bright blue eyes widened at the sight before her.

Several tall boys surrounded a brown-haired boy, who trembled and hunched his back. Sneers decorated the faces of the surrounding boys while the brown-haired boy could only shut his eyes. I have seen that kid before. She chewed on her bottom lip and scratched her head.

Even though she lived in Namimori for the last two years, Naruto didn't really remember the names of the people in the town. It was not like she didn't try to remember their names. The people were nice, a little bit insane at times, but it was hard for her to remember every single name of the people in this tiny town.

Besides in another couple of years, she would leave this town and live in a bigger city.

"Since you agreed that it is your fault, you are going to clean up the gym while we eat our lunch." The leader of the bunch thrust the broom at the brown-haired boy, dark eyes gleaming with a sadistic joy that made her bristle. She should just leave. This wasn't any of her business. But it isn't fair. That thought made her pause.

Could she really turn the other way at the sight of this injustice?

Even if the world wasn't fair, she should fight for the injustice that her classmate was currently facing from the boys.

"You guys should help him tidy up." The boys swirled their heads away from the brown-haired boy, focusing their beady eyes on her. Her head tilted to the side as several boys gazed at her with flushed cheeks. Weirdos. She darted her eyes to the shaking boy, whose brown eyes widened at the sight of her, before looking back at the blushing boys. "It's only fair."

The leader of the gang snorted. "And why should we help him tidy up? He is the reason we lost!"

She forced herself to smile widely as her blue eyes darted around the gym. Only one basketball laid on the ground and Naruto knew it meant the boys had been playing basketball for their gym. In the last two years she lived in Japan, she learnt a lot about the various sports in the country.

If her memory served her right then basketball was a team game and the Academy always emphasized to them that the team that lost together, suffered from the same punishment.

"Was he the only one playing basketball?" The boys blinked and gawked as Naruto walked inside the gym. She ignored their stares, didn't look at the trembling boy, and picked up the fallen basketball that stood right in front of her trembling classmate. She bounced the ball and focused her eyes on the boys. "If I'm not wrong, basketball is a team sport…meaning you lost as a team."

The leader bristled and glowered while Naruto placed the ball beside her arms. She grinned at the boys as she tightened her hold on the basketball. Did the asshole believe a single glare could make her whimper? Compared to the shit she faced in her childhood, the asshole was nothing but a little kitten trying to be a lion.

She darted her eyes to the trembling boy. His brown eyes fixated on her, looking at her like she was some kind of weirdo for talking to their classmate like that. Those brown eyes looked familiar. An image flashed into her mind and blue eyes widened as she realized the identity of the trembling boy.

Sawada Tsunayoshi or Dame Tsuna as the kids of their school liked to call him.

I only thought they gave him a bad nickname, I didn't think they actually bullied him. A frown played on her lips and Naruto squeezed the ball closer to her chest. For a brief moment, she contemplated about whether it was a good idea for her to help him or not. If she helped him even more, it would just bring more attention on herself and Naruto wanted a peaceful school life for once.

But it would be wrong of her not to see this through.

"And why the hell should we listen to you?" The leader scoffed and sneered at her. "You are just a girl."

Big mistake, asshole. Naruto curled her lips into a large smile as her blue eyes darkened at the insult thrown at her. Just a girl, huh? So if she had been born a boy, they would listen to her. Did they think they were stronger because of their stupid gender? Her blond eyebrows twitched as she slithered towards the leader.

His dark eyes watched her with a cocky confidence that made her want to scrowl. I'm going to make you pay big time, asshole. The other boys gulped as if realizing what her smile meant. That only made her smile even wider. Compared to their leader, they must have sensed the danger of his words.

She curled her right hand into a fist, pulled it back like a slingshot and hurled her fist against his face. Wind blew passed her blond strands of hair as the boy hurled into the wall. The walls cracked as the boy clutched his stomach, moaning and crying out of pain. Naruto just rolled her eyes.

And I was just going easy on him.

"Now if anyone else have any problems with listening to my orders, you will end up like that poor sucker." She chirped, flipping her ponytail to the side. The boys paled and gulped before charged straight to the brooms scattered in the dark corner of the gym.

I did my duty as a good classmate. She clicked her heels together and made her way towards the door, only to pause when she felt a pair of eyes watching her. With a large smile plastered on her lips, Naruto twisted her body around and blinked at the sight of Tsuna staring at her with knitted eyebrows.

Those large brown eyes looked at her like she was strange and Naruto guessed she was strange to him. From her memories of her classmate, there had never been a single person who stood up for him and this was the first time someone did it for him.

With a small wave, she turned her body around and walked away.

There was only one reason she helped him and that was because it was the right thing for her to do. It wasn't because she wanted to be friends with him or because he looked like a scared little kitten in that moment. No matter where she was or what she was, Uzumaki Naruto never liked seeing someone being bullied.

"U-Uzumaki-san, thank you for helping me!"

Naruto tightened her grip on the straps of her bag as a loud, girlish voice echoed throughout the entrance of the school. Several students stopped walking and turned their bodies around, focusing their eyes on her. Curiosity shone through their eyes and the blonde ignored the silent questions burning through their eyes. It wasn't any of their business.

She inhaled and twisted her body around to face Tsuna. The brown-eyed boy trembled, hunched his shoulders and focused his brown eyes on the ground. Whispers broke out and Naruto just stared at the short boy who stood right behind her. Even though his whole body screamed that he was terrified of her, his tone had been filled with a gratitude that she hadn't heard in a long time.

Nearly three years now if she had to be exact.

"Don't thank me, Sawada." Brown eyes widened as Naruto offered him a large smile before twisting her body away. She kept the smile plastered on her face as various students leaned closer together, dropping their voices into low tones as their eyes fixated on her. She didn't need to use her chakra to know what was going through their minds.

Who was she?

Unlike most of the girls in her class, Naruto tried her hardest not to grab anyone's attention. Other than her introduction on the first day of school, Naruto had kept to herself for a reason. Getting close to someone was dangerous. If anyone got attached to her then it would only bring her trouble. Unlike the people of this small town, she had very little desire to settle her roots here.

The longer she stayed in a place, the riskier it would be for her after all.

"Why not?" Naruto paused and swirled her head as brown eyebrows knitted together. "Y-You helped me."

The blonde sighed and pinched her nose. "Yeah but I helped you because it was the right thing to do. Anyone in my position would have done what I did for you."

Brown eyes hesitated and stared at her like she was a weirdo for making such claims. Naruto clenched her hands into a fist as several people darted their eyes from her to Tsuna. Why was everyone such a busybody? So what if she helped Tsuna? It was only fair that she helped him. Just because she didn't make an effort to put herself out there, didn't mean she was some cold-hearted bitch.

She inhaled and took a step forward as more eyes followed her.

"No one would have done what you did for me!" Tsuna's voice echoed throughout the entrance of the school and Naruto paused. She wasn't certain what made her pause. She should just walk away from the boy but the squeakiness of his voice reminded her of Hinata-chan. Anything that reminded her of Hinata-chan would make her stop in her steps. "Anyone else would have walked away in that situation but you didn't do that."

She hunched her shoulders. "Sawada, what are you trying to say?"

"I-I'm trying to say that you are a really good person even though y-you are kinda scary."

Naruto hunched her shoulders and focused her eyes on the ground. She inhaled and exhaled, trying to regain control of the bubbling emotions inside of her. It was only natural he said that to her. No one helped him in that situation. She tightened her grip on the strap of her bag as her hand crept up to her stomach.

"Thank you for the compliment, Sawada but you don't really know me to make that kind of claim."

If that boy knew what she was. If he knew of the things she did, then he would never claim she was a good person. Those large brown eyes would look at her with horror and fear as he realized what she was. It was only natural he would do it. Because no matter how good she tried to do, it would always be ruined when people learnt the truth about her.

Humans were just cruel in that way.

A/N: Naruto will be eventually paired up with someone but as of right now, the pairing is up in the air. The next chapter will focus more on the interactions between the characters. I would also like to thank all of you for giving this story a shot and if you have any comments, I would like to hear it.