Right, I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, only my OC.

"Naruto, wake up already! You're going to make us late! There's no way I'm missing the graduation exam! I've been waiting for six months for this!" I pounded on the door but there was no response. I had already been there for five minutes, and my patience was wearing thin. "Naruto Uzumaki, if you don't open this door by the time I count to five, I'm breaking down the door." Still nothing. "ONE….TWO…THREE…FOUR….FI-" Naruto then decided to open the door, his eyes half open and his ridiculous pajama hat leaning dangerously to one side.

"What's with all the noise Ariana, sheesh," He rubbed his eyes and yawned, opening the door so I could come in. I grabbed him by the back of his pajamas and dragged him towards the bathroom, picking up his orange jumpsuit on the way there.

"The exam starts in thirty minutes, and you aren't even dressed yet. Get a move on!" Naruto's eyes widened and he started freaking out, trying to brush his teeth and pull on his shirt at the same time.

"Oh no, I'm gonna miss it! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" he yelled, zipping up his jacket.

"I did! I was knocking at your door for at least five minutes and you didn't even wake up!" Naruto wasn't even listening anymore, looking under the couch for his goggles. I sighed and picked them up from the floor. "Here," I said, tossing them to him and rushing down the hall towards the door. "We need to leave, like right now. Let's go!"

"Right!"

We burst into the classroom right before Iruka-sensei walked in. I scrambled to a bench and slid in, ignoring the stares of the other students. Naruto slid in beside me.

"Good, it looks like you're all here. Ok class, we will now start the final exam. When your name is called, please proceed to the testing room. The final exam will be on… the clone jutsu." He said. Naruto grabbed his face and groaned. I felt bad for him; the clone jutsu was his worst technique.

"You'll be fine Naruto! Just remember, all you need to do is stay calm and focus. Take your time," I said, patting him on the back. He gave a weak smile and I smiled back.

"Hey Ariana, over here!" someone yelled. I looked back and saw Choji waving his hand at the back of the room. I smiled and waved, turning to Naruto to ask him to go with me.

"Naruto Uzumaki!" A teacher called, waiting by the door. I gave Naruto another smile and wished him good luck as he left with the teacher. I then got up and walked to where Choji and Shikamaru were sitting, making Shikamaru scoot over so I could sit.

"Yo," I greeted. Shikamaru cracked an eye open, and then went back to sleeping; Choji gave a smile.

"So Ariana, do you think you'll pass?" he asked. I snorted, waving my hand at him.

"Of course I will! I'm a pro at this jutsu. I'm not so sure about Naruto though. If I remember correctly, he doesn't do too well," I said mostly to myself. Choji and Shikamaru paid no attention to it, used to my random knowledge of the future. "What about you guys? Do you think you'll graduate?"

"Heck yeah! This is such an easy thing to test us on, right Shikamaru?" Choji said. Shikamaru didn't move.

"He fell asleep again. I swear, he's gonna sleep his life away." More names were called, but I didn't pay attention to any of them as I chatted to Choji.

"Shikamaru Nara," the examiner called. I poked him when he made no move to get up; he twitched.

"Oh, great, I hate when he acts like he's asleep," I scowled. I looked at Choji, who nodded. We both grabbed an arm and hauled him up, pushing him out into the aisle. He lay there for a minute before finally getting up, leaving after giving us a glare. I smiled and waggled my fingers at him, pulling down an eyelid and sticking my tongue out after he was gone.

"Do you think he'll actually get up enough motivation to pass?" I asked Choji.

"Yeah, I think so. Going through the academy again would be too much work for him. Not like Naruto, who fails every time. He keeps trying though, so I have to give him points for that."

"Yeah, Naruto's pretty amazing, isn't he?" I said, filled with pride for my friend, who was more of a brother to me.

"Amazing isn't exactly the word I would use, but whatever. Hey, you wanna get some barbecue after the exam?" Choji asked. The teacher came in again and called out my name.

"Sure, that sounds great. See ya then!" I smiled as I walked with the man out of the classroom, but I settled my features into a more serious expression as we stopped in front of the exam room. He opened the door for me, revealing Mizuki-sensei and Iruka-sensei.

"Hello Ariana. Please, come in." Iruka said. Mizuki never really said much of anything, but I knew of the insanity that he hid below the surface. "Alright, you must make at least one clone, and it must be an exact replica of yourself, do you understand?"

"Yes Sensei!" I said, making the tiger sign. I stumbled a little forming the signs, but I had four clones that looked exactly like me.

"You made an above average number of clones and the characteristics are flawless, but your hand signs could use a bit of work. Overall, you get a low A. Congratulations, you pass," Iruka grinned, tossing me a headband.

"Thank you Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei," I said, walking out of the room. I started running as soon as the door closed, heading outside to where Naruto would be waiting. I slammed the door open and ran towards Naruto and Shikamaru, whooping and yelling. "NARUTOOOO! I PASSED, I PASSED!" Shikamaru and Naruto just happened to be standing too close together, so they were both tackled in my leaping hug.

"Such a drag," Shikamaru groaned from under my left arm. Naruto laughed and hugged me as best he could with half of his body squished under me. Shikamaru awkwardly patted my back and then went back to laying there like a rock. I pushed myself off of them and pulled them up, still grinning like an idiot.

"Okay, Shikamaru, I know you passed, but what about you Naruto? How'd it go?" I asked excitedly. Naruto's smile disappeared and he looked at the ground.

"I think I'll go find my parents. See ya," Shikamaru said, walking away faster than usual.

"I failed again. T hat's the third time. I tried so hard and I still failed."

"Hey, chin up Naruto! You just need to keep trying and you'll pass next time for sure!" I said reassuringly, mock punching his shoulder. "Now come on, turn that frown upside down!" He gave a small smile that didn't convince me one bit. "Look Naruto, life isn't always easy. You just have to keep trying. Trust me; in the long run it'll all be worth it."

"Yeah, you're probably right. All right! I'm going to go home and do some more training, after some Ichiraku's; I'm starving!" He did another of his weird poses- this one was simply his arm raised in the air with his index finger pointed at the sky- before sitting on the swing that was hanging nearby. We lapsed into an easy silence until everyone had finished the exam. Parents had arrived, and were praising their children and telling them how proud they were.

"Ariana, are you ready to go or what?" Choji yelled.

"Yeah, just a second!" I answered. I turned to Naruto and gave him the sternest look I could manage. "I have to go now Naruto. Don't do anything stupid."

"Aw come on, have some faith in me will ya?" He pouted.

"Naruto," I deadpanned, "I left you alone for a while yesterday and you ended up painting the Hokage's faces, got caught skipping class, made the whole class have a pop quiz on the clone jutsu, failed the quiz because you used your Sexy Jutsu, which I don't approve of by the way, gave Iruka-sensei a nosebleed, and had to clean the Hokage's faces as punishment. You're lucky that I let you out of your apartment." Naruto rubbed the back of his head and laughed sheepishly.

"What, that? Psh, that was nothing, don't worry about that!" He gave me a light shove towards where Choji and his parents were standing.

"Remember Naruto, nothing stupid," I warned, walking away. I chatted with Choji's family for a while, before hearing two of the village women talking in hushed voices.

"Please, excuse me for a moment," I said hurriedly, pushing through the crowd to get closer to the women.

"There, you see him?" one woman spat with disgust, glancing at Naruto. Her voice grated painfully against my ears.

"I hear he's the only one who failed," the other woman said. She had a bit of a sympathetic tone, but it wasn't much better than the first.

"Heh, it serves him right. Just imagine what would happen if he became a ninja!" woman two said. They were both turned towards us now, not considering the possibility of me hearing them. "I mean he's the one who-" woman two was cut off by woman one, and they finally seemed to notice me.

I growled and walked up to them, my hands balled into fists.

"You two don't have any idea what you're talking about. What gives you the right to judge him when you know nothing at all about him, or about the hardships he's been through? Who are you to say that he doesn't deserve to be a ninja?" I hissed, looking both of them straight in the eye.

"You don't know what that boy is, what he's hiding, you can't possibly understand," woman one sneered. Woman two grunted her agreement from her hiding spot behind woman one.

"I do know! I've known since the day I met him, and I still treat him like a normal person! He's like my brother! Don't tell me that I don't understand! It's really you that doesn't understand; you're the one who has no clue! Before I came here you might have been able to sprout whatever you wanted and talked about him when he isn't there like the cowards you are, but with me here that isn't gonna fly. I'm going to defend him from the likes of you until my last breath slips from my body, you can count on it. I swear it, and I take my promises seriously."

"Hah, big words for such a small girl," she laughed, "I could take you right now, without even breaking a sweat."

"I don't think you want to do that. You'll look bad attacking a kid, lady. Why don't you just go home? I have more important things to do than embarrass you in front of all your friends." The woman turned beet red, her cheeks puffing out like a squirrel.

"Why, you little brat! I'll show you!" she yelled, cocking back her fist. She let it fly with a considerable amount of force, but I ducked under and sprang up close to her, hitting the nerves on the side of her neck with the outside edge of my hand. She crumpled to the ground like a sack of rocks, out cold. The effects only lasted a few seconds however and she was on her feet again, a bit dizzy if nothing else. She came running this time and I readied myself for another brachial stun, but Iruka-sensei appeared between the two of us, ending the fight.

"Ariana, this is no way for a genin of Konoha to behave. This woman stands no chance against you, and you know that. I'm very disappointed in you. As a ninja, you must protect the people of the village, not fight with them. I hope you show better judgment in the future. Go now, before you cause any more trouble." The woman burst into large crocodile tears, blubbering about how I hurt her and that she was so afraid. I rolled my eyes and walked away from the crowd, finding Choji.

"I apologize for the scene I caused. I just can't stand people like that."

"It's fine, now come on, I'm starving!" he cried, grabbing his stomach. I laughed as he grabbed my wrist and dragged me down the street towards the barbecue restaurant. I grabbed onto Shikamaru as we passed him, tearing him away from Yoshino and Shikaku, his parents.

"Hello Mrs. Nara, Shikaku!" I yelled. They both waved as we disappeared around a corner, still being dragged by Choji.

It was late into the evening when we finally left, already dark outside. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, leaving me to walk alone. The temperature had lowered enough for my breath to be visible; I regretted not bringing a jacket.

A shadow in the corner of my eye caught my attention. I didn't have time to run. Beefy and Skinny stepped into the light, sneering. Beefy's nose was still smashed flat, causing it to whistle when he breathed. I tried to make a quick escape, but Beefy grabbed onto me and kept me from running. I sighed; trouble must follow me around.

"You picked a fight with the wrong people girl. You might've gotten lucky last time, but this time you won't get away. We've got a grudge to settle," Skinny growled. His foot connected with my stomach and I coughed, gasping for breath. I was yanked up by my hair and thrown into a space between an old house and a decaying fence. On the other side of the fence was an empty lot. My chances of escape were not looking good. I was able to catch myself on my hands, my eyes adjusting to the low light. I could see their silhouettes move, and I jumped to the side as another punch was thrown my way.

"Wow, are you still having trouble fighting a little girl? You guys are pathetic! I thought you were supposed to be big, tough criminals or something. You suck," I sneered. Skinny was so angry his head almost imploded.

"Grab her!" he shouted to Beefy. I dodged his fumbling hands and rammed into his side. He crashed into the ground as he was caught off balance and hit his head on the wall. He sat there, dazed for the moment. A burst of light appeared right in front of me, causing my eyes to try and re-adjust to the high level of light. Then, the light was gone and I was left in total darkness again. I never saw the man coming; only the small glint of his knife before it sliced down the left side of my face. I managed to close my eye in time so it wasn't damaged, but my eyebrow and cheek were cut down the middle. Blood flowed into my eye and down my face, dripping off of my chin and onto my shirt. I screamed and clutched at my face, crashing to my knees.

"You took it too far man. I'm outta here," Beefy said, getting up and running out of the alley. Skinny bent down and hauled me up, going for my face again.

"NO!" I screamed, loud enough that I felt something in my throat strain. My eyes burned and I felt a stream of blood run down my other eye, but not from the bite of a knife. The scene around me suddenly grew bright, almost like the sun was shining. I smelt the sweat and blood coming from me, as well as the sweat of my attacker. I smelt the dirt and brick, and heard the tapping of a beetle's legs as it scuttled out of the alley, and the din of people coming towards us. I could taste the man's confusion, as well as his disgust towards me. I smiled and drew my kunai, taking the chance to attack while I had an advantage. I buried the kunai into his side, all the way up to the handle. He turned in shock and flicked on a small flashlight, shining it around. My eyes glowed like a predator's as he passed me, causing him to shriek and lose his concentration. The light went out, and I tasted something new. Fear. The taste coated my tongue like a veil, sour and metallic, and drove me on. I smiled sadistically and attacked again, drawing another kunai and slicing his neck. Blood sprayed in a thick fan on the wall and coated my shirt in more blood as he spun around, groping in the dark as the light faded from his eyes. I watched as he slumped to the ground, clutching futilely at his neck.

The footsteps that had been drawing closer now stopped. Beams of light drove away the darkness. My eyes changed back to normal and my heightened senses faded, leaving me weak and bleeding. Yellow spots clouded my vision. I was unconscious before I hit the ground.

I heard voices around me, and the steady beeping of a heart monitor. I opened my eyes and noticed that I was in a bed in a dim room. The left side of my face hurt like heck and I reached up to touch it. My fingers felt the roughness of a bandage. A hand came from nowhere and grabbed my wrist, pulling it away.

"You aren't supposed to touch that," they said wearily. I turned towards them since my left eye was blocked, and I saw Naruto sitting in a small leather chair by my bed, big black bags under his eyes. Shikamaru was lying in the other chair, snoring softly, while Choji was sprawled on a sleeping bag on the floor.

"Naruto? Where the heck am I?" I rasped. He handed me a glass of water, which I gulped down gratefully.

"You're in the hospital. Some guy attacked you a few nights ago and cut your eye. The medic-nins were able to heal it almost all the way, but they said you needed some rest." He gave me a tired smile, which I returned slowly.

"You didn't do anything stupid while I was out did you?" I asked. His smile faded and he turned away, whistling softly. "Naruto…" I threatened.

"Well, Mizuki-sensei told me that there was a secret way to graduate, so I did what he said and took this scroll and learned a technique called "Shadow Clone Jutsu" from it. Then there was a big uproar and Iruka-sensei came after us and fought Mizuki, who turned out to be evil, and was injured pretty bad. I used my new technique and beat Mizuki, and then I got to graduate!" he rushed. I closed my eyes and grabbed the bridge of my nose gently in frustration.

"I thought I told you, nothing stupid! And then you go out and do something like that! What's wrong with you? You could have gotten yourself killed! Jeez Naruto, you're lucky we're in a hospital and that I'm hurt, or I would beat the crap out of you right now. I can't even yell at you because Shikamaru and Choji are asleep," I whispered harshly. Naruto just smiled and rubbed his head. "How long have you guys been here anyway?"

"Well, I got here after that whole situation. And it's Saturday at about eight in the morning now, so….around 34 hours. I think. I left for a little while to pick up clothes for everyone, because Shikamaru and Choji wouldn't leave for anything. They didn't even fall asleep until about an hour ago."

"You guys are amazing, you know that? I couldn't ask for better friends," I said, sighing happily. "Now come on, wake up the guys while I find my clothes. I hate hospitals."

"Whoa, hold on a second. Normally I'd be all for this plan, but you're not supposed to leave. The medic said that if you were doing okay when you woke up that he'd take the bandages off," Naruto said, pushing me back on the pillows.

"Fine, fine, I'll stay," I sighed. "Now, get some sleep, you look like you need it." He nodded and sank back into the chair, falling asleep almost instantly. I closed my eyes and was asleep again before I knew it, though I had just slept for hours.

I woke up a few hours later, just as Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji were leaving for some food. They promised to sneak in something for me and left after I waved away their offer to stay with me. A medic-nin came in a few minutes after, funny hat and all, a clipboard in hand.

"Well Miss Moore, I see you seem to be doing all right. Do you think you feel well enough for me to take off your bandage? Be warned though, there is a rather long scar," he said, grabbing a mirror from his pocket.

"Yeah, I feel fine. I'm as healthy as a horse," I smiled, thumping my chest for emphasis.

"All right then. Let's get the bandage out of the way," he said, peeling the patch away from my eye.

"All done, you can open your eye. Here," he said, handing me the mirror. I grabbed the handle and held it out in front of me, surveying the damage. A dark pink scar ran from an inch over my eyebrow to my cheekbone, straight down the center. I noticed that they had cut my bangs, which was a bit disappointing.

"It's not so bad actually. It kind of adds character, don't you think?" I grinned, turning my head to different angles. The medic laughed before saying his goodbyes, leaving just as Naruto came back with Choji and Shikamaru, and hopefully some food. They all froze at the door, staring.

"Well, are you going to just stand there gawking the whole day, or are you going to come in?" Naruto was the first to recover, putting another of his signature goofy grins on his face.

"Hey Ariana, we brought you some food!" he said, taking a basket out from behind his back. It was filled with popular street food like dango, onigiri, takoyaki, a roasted sweet potato, nikuman, and yakitori.

"Have I ever told you guys how much I love you?" I sang. They all looked at me like I had gone insane, but I was too busy eating to notice. The door slid open at that moment, so I threw the basket to Shikamaru. It hit him in the chest and bounced off, spilling most of the contents onto the floor.

"Oh come on! You couldn't even get up enough motivation to catch that? It's food! How could you not catch it?" I groaned. He shrugged. Choji looked heartbroken at seeing all the food go to waste.

The medic-nin that healed my eye came in, carrying a stack of papers and a bag. He stepped on a rice ball, causing him to stop short. He made a face of disgust and shook off his shoe.

"Right. Okay then, here are your discharge papers. You're free to go home. The laundry ladies managed to get the blood out of your clothes, so you can change out of those hospital pajamas if you want."

"Thank you very much!" I said. He smiled and left. I shooed everyone out and changed, leaving the pajamas folded on the bed.

"So, do you guys want to come over to my house for lunch? I'm a pretty good cook, if I do say so myself," I said, straightening an imaginary tie.

"Sure, why not? It sounds like fun," Choji said. The others nodded.

"Oh, that's right; you guys have never been in my apartment before; except for Naruto, of course. He likes to sleepwalk into my apartment and sleep on my living room floor. He scared me half to death the first time. I thought someone had killed him and dumped the body as a warning that they were coming for me next!"

"I worry about your mental health sometimes, you know that?" Shikamaru asked. I shrugged.

"Surprisingly, I get that a lot." I opened the door and let them in, picking up random clothes from the floor on my way to the kitchen. Naruto made himself at home, plopping on the couch and setting his feet on my coffee table. Choji and Shikamaru sat in chairs to either side of him. "Naruto," I scolded, "get your feet off my coffee table! I don't want my table to smell like your feet." He rolled his eyes, but set his feet back on the floor.

"So, how does a 14 year old get her own apartment?" Choji asked. My hand hesitated for a moment, but I managed to recover, grabbing a pan and putting it down like nothing had happened.

"Uhm, as you know, my real mother died. I also don't know who my father is, so staying with him was out of the question. I had to live somewhere, you know?" I turned on the stove, adding some oil into the pan.

"But you said you had an adoptive mother. What happened to her?" They had all moved to sit at the kitchen island, grabbing chairs from the kitchen table.

"I…sort of ran away I guess. I got a letter from the Hokage telling me about my real parents, and I asked her about it. That's when I found out I was adopted. I told her that I wanted to find out about my real family, and she let me go; encouraged it actually. I was glad to go," I sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I loved living there, and I loved her like she was my own mother, but she wasn't my own mother. I had to find out if I had any real family, so I left. Simple as that."

"But why doesn't she send you letters, or money, or come visit or something?" Naruto asked.

"I left very suddenly. Something terrible happened when I left. The whole village that I lived in simply…forgot. Forgot who I was, that I even existed. Even my adoptive mother forgot me. I think it's better that way though. That way, I always move forward, because I can't go back."

"How could a whole village just forget that you existed? It doesn't seem possible," Shikamaru said, scratching his head.

"I don't know how it happened, I just know that it did, and I had no control over it. Maybe it's a jutsu that ensures no one is allowed to permanently leave the village. I guess there's something special inside it, or something they don't like about the outside world, I don't know. All I know is; I'm not allowed to go back."

"That's not fair! I mean, just because you want to leave the village doesn't mean that you should be shunned! Where is this village anyway?" Naruto demanded.

"I don't know," I shrugged, "I never thought to look on a map. I really don't even know how far it is from here. All I remember is falling asleep, and ending up where I wanted to be." Okay, so it wasn't all true. They were half true though, so I wasn't necessarily lying. I set some plates and the dish of food in front of them, getting some condiments out of the fridge.

"What the heck is this?" Naruto said, poking one curiously.

"They're latkes. It's a potato pancake basically. My mom taught me how to make them before I left. I think they're really delicious," I said, dipping a bite in sour cream and popping it into my mouth. The others followed suit, their eyes widening when they realized how good they were.

"Wow, these are awesome! You should make these more often!" Naruto said, grabbing more.

It didn't take long for the dish to be emptied, but everyone was full by the time they were gone.

"So what do you guys want to do now?" I asked, putting the pan in the sink.

"Choji and I have to go. We somehow got roped into helping my mom clean out our storage shed," Shikamaru said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"I'll stay for a while. My TV isn't working," Naruto said, plopping down in the living room. I walked Shikamaru and Choji to the door.

"You realize that he doesn't have a TV, right?" Shikamaru asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, I don't care though. He's just worried about me being alone; especially since it seems like that every time I am I get attacked. I think that's how he "sleepwalks" and ends up on my floor, too," I whispered. They both laughed and turned to leave. "Oh, wait, one more thing," I said. I quickly rose on my tiptoes and gave them both a kiss on the cheek and a hug. They turned as red as tomatoes.

"Wh-what'd you do that for?" Choji demanded, holding his cheek. I smiled.

"Naruto told me; about how you guys stayed. It means a lot to me. I'm really grateful. Thank you," I said, still smiling. I closed the door before they could say anything else. I hear a faint "troublesome" from the other side.

"What took you so long? Did you get lost or something?" Naruto joked, flipping channels on my TV.

"I know you don't have a TV, Naruto," I smiled. He mumbled a bit but didn't say anything about it.

"Hey, Ariana. There's something I gotta tell you. I'm the, I mean I have the-," he began, but I cut him off.

"Nine-tailed fox inside you? I know, Naruto. I've known all along. Let's just say I'm…psychic."