Author Notes: This is my first story. I've been reading stories on this site for a while and figure that I'll give it a shot.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its character.

-Chapter I-

A six years old boy is wandering through the park, looking for anyone who is willing to play with him. For as long as the boy can remember, he has been shunned by everyone, sometimes to the point that parents and children alike would hit him if he got too close to them. The boy looks slightly dejected seeing the usual reaction from everyone whenever he came within ten meters from them. Suddenly, he hears someone sobbing somewhere. Turning his head searching for the source of the voice, he sees a pink-haired girl crying under a tree. Walking over, he tries to comfort the girl.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Wh… who are you?"

"Uh… my name is… it doesn't really matter. Why are you crying?"

"The other girls were picking on me."

"Why did they do that?"

"Because I have a big forehead… I am ugly."

"No you're not. Your forehead is so big and wide, it makes me want to kiss it."

"Eh? You… you don't think I'm ugly?"

"No. You're really pretty. What's your name?"

"My name is Haruno Sakura. You haven't told me your name yet."

"Uh… my name is… Uzumaki Naruto."

"Naruto-kun. Thank you. I feel much better now. Do you want to play together tomorrow? We can meet here at three in the afternoon."

"You want to play with me? OK! I'll be here."

"It's really late. I have to go home now. Bye Naruto-kun."

"Bye Sakura-chan. I'll see you tomorrow."

Putting his hands behind his head, Naruto smiles as he watches the back of Sakura as she walks away. He turns and leaves the park when he can no longer see the girl, excited to tell the old man that had been taking care of him about the new friend he met. Meanwhile, as Sakura reaches home, she is all excited about telling her mother of the new friend she met in the park.

"Well, Sakura, you look happy today."

"Uh huh, I met a new friend today."

"Oh. What's your friend's name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"What! Sakura, that Naruto is a bad person. You shouldn't see him again."

"A bad person? But he was so nice to me today…"

"Sakura, you don't want to be near that boy. I'm your mother, I would never do anything to hurt you."

"O… OK mom. I promise I won't see him anymore. I'll just play with Ino-chan tomorrow then."

"That's a good girl, Sakura. Come on, dinner is ready."

The next afternoon, Naruto rushes to the park excitedly as soon as he finished lunch, hoping to find his new friend. The old man was too busy yesterday so he didn't stop by at Naruto's place to check on him, but that still didn't dampen the boy's enthusiasm. The looks that everyone is giving him don't bother him as much as they would normally, as the only thing in his mind is the pink-haired girl he met yesterday. When he finally reaches the spot he met the girl a day ago, he takes a quick look at the clock near him, showing him that he is a few minutes early. He sits down under a tree and waits for Sakura to show up. Taking a glance at the clock every now and then, he starts becoming more and more nervous as the minutes pass by. Eventually, he hears a familiar voice about an hour after when Sakura was supposed to show up. He sees the pink-haired girl with a blonde girl talking and laughing as they approach him. Thinking that the girl is going to introduce him to a new friend, he runs up to greet her excitedly, completely forgetting how late the girl is.

"Hi Sakura-chan."

"Hey, Sakura, do you know him?"

"Hmm. No I don't Ino-chan. I have no idea who he is."

"It's me Naruto. Don't you remember Sakura-chan?"

"No. I don't know you at all."

"But…"

"Hey! Cut it out. She already said she doesn't know you. Leave us alone!"

Tears start welling up in Naruto's eyes as he looks at Sakura one last time. Seeing the tears, Sakura quickly looks away, trying to be as steel-hearted as she can until the boy finally leaves them. Dropping his head, Naruto turns around and runs away trying desperately to keep the tears from falling. He keeps on reminding himself to stay strong and not give the people the pleasure of seeing him break down. As soon as the boy is out of sight, Sakura sighs and looks at the ground uncomfortably.

"What was that all about Sakura?"

"Remember the boy I told you before?"

"He's the boy?"

"Yeah…"

"When were you supposed to meet him again?

"Three."

"He waited an hour for you here?"

"I don't think so. I mean, he must have other friends too right. He must have been playing with them while he was waiting for me."

"Doesn't look like it. I think he's by himself. Look at how the people are all glaring at him as he walks pass them. That was really mean Sakura. Even if your mom said that he's a bad person, he certainly doesn't look like one to me."

"My mom won't lie to me!"

"I don't think it would make a different now. Poor boy, I really feel sorry for him."

"All right already. I know I was mean, but mom said I should stay away from him."

"I know, no need to get angry at me. I'm not yelling at you or anything."

"I'm sorry Ino. It's just that I feel kinda bad for what I did…"

"Oh well, what's done is done. Let's go and have some fun. I bet it'll make you forget all about it."

"Right. Let's go."

Naruto runs away from the park with a mist over his eyes. He doesn't care where he is going, as long as it's away from the park. When he finally calms down again, he finds himself in a completely unknown neighborhood. He looks around in fear as the people all look at him in confusion rather than hatred. They all seem to have a strange look in their eyes, and the boy soon realize that their irises are completely white. Frantically looking around, he finds himself surrounded by these white-eyed people and beyond them is a wooden fence surrounding this huge house to his left. Suddenly, he finds one familiar face in the crowd, someone whose eyes isn't white.

"Jiji! Save me!"

"Naruto-kun, what is he doing here?" the old man says, looking toward the source of the scream.

"So he's the famous Naruto," the person who was talking to the old man says.

"Yes, Hiashi-san. He is quite the prankster but he's really a good boy."

"Jiji!"

Naruto runs up and wraps his tiny body around the old man's leg as his tears start flowing down his face. He hates it when he cries in front of strangers, especially such a large group of strangers, but with his experiences in the park and his fearful encounters just now, his image is the last thing on his mind. A young girl around his age walks up toward him, when Naruto finally realizes that someone is staring at him, he turns around and lets out a very girly screech, another thing he hates to do in front of people.

"Jiji! Who are these weird white eye people?"

The girl seems to be hurt by the question as she looks away and begin fidgeting her tiny fingers. The other people in the crowd doesn't seem to be as effected by the boy's statement, but on closer inspection, one can see quite a large number of them are clenching their fist, trying to calm themselves.

"Naruto, show some respect. They are the Hyuugas, the strongest clan in all of Konoha."

"Strongest clam? They don't look like food."

"Clan Naruto, not clam. A clan is a ninja family."

"Oh, so they are all ninjas?"

"That's right."

"Good, then all of you should back off, because you're all going to be working for me one day. I'm going to become the Hokage when I grow up!"

"Hokage-sama?" Hiashi asks.

"Ever since I met this boy, he's been saying that his dream is to be the next Hokage."

"I see."

"O… ohaiyo gonzaimasu," the little girl whispers.

"Oh, hello. I'm sorry about what I said earlier. It's not that I think your eyes are weird or anything. You just surprised me that's all."

"It… it's OK."

"Naruto-kun," Hiashi says.

"What do you want oji-san."

"O… oji-san?" Hiashi says, turning toward the Hokage.

"Naruto has a… very interesting way of greeting people."

"I see. Well, Naruto-kun, do you want to become friends with my daughter Hinata?"

"Yeah. I always want to make new friends."

"A… arigatou Naruto-kun," the little girl says.

Stopping his eager nodding, Naruto turns toward the girl who had surprised him before. His face is etched in confusion for a few moments until realization dawns on him.

"Oh, so you must be Hinata-chan."

"H… hai."

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage."

"Gan… ganbarre Naruto-kun."

Naruto flashes a smile toward Hinata and she starts fidgeting her fingers again while looking away blushing. Seeing how the two are bonding, the adults slowly walk away and let the two young kids enjoy themselves. The two continue to talk and laugh with each other, and Hinata is enjoying the moment so thoroughly that she unknowingly ignores the tug at the hem of her long jacket until the person starts crying.

"Eh? Hanabi-chan. Oh please don't cry. I'm sorry for ignoring you."

"Is that your little sister Hinata-chan?"

"Yeah. Her name is Hanabi, she's just one year old."

"Come on, Hanabi-chan, don't cry. I'm sorry for keeping your sister from you."

Eyes finally drying up, Hanabi takes one look at Naruto and clutches onto her sister's leg while glaring at Naruto with a pout. Chuckling nervously, Naruto scratches the back of his head, having no idea how to deal with this situation.

"I don't think Hanabi-chan likes me too much."

"She is always like this with strangers. Give her a little time and she'll warm up toward you."

"Are all girls like that?"

"What do you mean Naruto-kun?"

"Do all girls need time to know the boy before she starts liking him?"

"I guess. Why?"

"Well, I met a girl at the park yesterday and she promised me that she'll play with me today, but then she comes an hour late with another girl and starts pretending she doesn't know me."

"Maybe she's shy about letting her friend that she have a boy friend."

"Eh? Boyfriend?"

"Well, you are a boy and you are her friend right?"

"But… boyfriend?"

Hinata looks toward the boy in confusion as Hanabi looks back and forth between Hinata and Naruto, trying to gain their attention again. After a few moments of thinking, Hinata finally understand what Naruto is talking about.

"No, I don't mean it like that! I just mean a friend who is a boy."

"Oh. You scared me for a moment there Hinata-chan."

Seeing how Naruto is patting his chest with one hand while wiping the imaginary sweat off his forehead with the other, Hanabi starts giggling at his antics. Hinata shows a gentle smile as she watches Naruto bends down and start playing with the younger Hyuuga. Suddenly, an idea strikes her and she glances toward Naruto and waits for him to start paying attention to her again.

"Hm. Hinata-chan, is there something wrong?"

"No. I was just wondering… if Naruto-kun would want to go to the park with me tomorrow. Maybe we can even meet this girl you are talking about."

"The park again?"

"Don't worry, I won't ignore you like the girl today."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. You're my friend Naruto-kun. It looks like you are Hanabi-chan's friend too."

"Yeah, she warmed up to me pretty fast. OK, what time do you want to meet tomorrow?"

"Um… how about… two?"

"OK, two o'clock it is."

While the kids are playing together, the Hokage and Hiashi watch on with a small smile on their face. Hearing about their plan for tomorrow, Hiashi gestures toward one of the guards and orders him to keep an eye on Hinata tomorrow but not to interfere with them unless absolutely necessary.

"The kid looks so much like him, even his personality."

"Yes. That is quite true. Naruto-kun also has a way of changing people around him for the better."

"I have to agree. I haven't seen Hinata this happy before," Hiashi says before looking around, "though I still wonder how the kid manage to barge into the Hyuuga compound like that."

"I will have to talk to him later about that. Anyway, my business here is done. I probably should get Naruto-kun home as well, it's getting late, we shouldn't intrude any longer."

"Oh no, it's no trouble. It's an honor to have you visit us today, Hokage-sama. Please tell Naruto that he is welcome to come whenever he wishes."

"Thank you Hiashi. Come on Naruto, we're going."

"OK. See you tomorrow Hinata-chan. Bye, Hanabi-chan."

The next afternoon, Naruto rushes to the park again, hoping that his luck will be better this time around. Remembering his conversion with Hinata yesterday, Naruto is hoping that he can see Sakura again today so he can introduce her to Hinata and perhaps she won't be as shy anymore. In fact, he is hoping that Sakura would introduce him to her friend and they can all play together. When he arrives, he sees Hinata standing there with a teenager standing next to her. Seeing the boy, the teenager nods toward Hinata before disappearing.

"Hi Hinata-chan, who's that?"

"Chichi-ue felt that he should send someone to watch over us in case we get into trouble."

"Oh. So what do you want to do Hinata-chan?"

"Do you see your friend around? Maybe you can introduce me to them."

"Hmm… I don't think I see them here."

Suddenly, he hears two familiar voices coming toward them. The girls are so engrossed in their conversation that they don't realize two people running toward them. The two girls only realize their existence when Naruto calls out right before they collide.

"Ugh, why don't you watch where… hey, you're the boy from yesterday!" Ino says.

"Um… hello," Naruto says hesitantly.

"Naruto-kun… I would like to apologize for yesterday…" Sakura says.

"It's OK. I understand that you were a bit shy."

"Shy…?"

"Uh huh, you don't want your friend to know that you have a friend who is a boy. Hinata-chan told me yesterday that girls are like that."

"Then you must be Hinata right," Ino says.

"Ye… yes," Hinata says, hiding partially behind Naruto.

"See Ino, I told you he had other friends with him yesterday."

"Actually, I met Hinata-chan after I left the park yesterday."

"…Oh," Sakura says meekly.

The four look at each other awkwardly. While she has warmed up toward Naruto yesterday, Hinata is still very shy around strangers. Ino told her parents about what happened at the park yesterday. After fumbling with the name for a while, her parents finally figured out who she was talking about and confirmed her suspicion that Naruto is actually a very kind, if stupid and brash, boy, and that her father had seen the boy with the Hokage on occasion and asked her to become Naruto's friend, though she doesn't really know how to approach him. Sakura had since found out from her mother that she was angry with something else that day and that she was surprised that a boy had approached her precious daughter and allowed Sakura to befriend the boy again. What Sakura doesn't know is that Ino's parents had a lot to do with her mother's change of heart. Naruto is trying to figure out if the two girls would be willing to be friends and play with him.

"So, Sakura, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

"Oh, Ino-chan, this is Naruto-kun."

"Nice to meet you Naruto-kun."

"Nice to meet you too Ino-chan."

"Why do you look so happy all of a sudden?" Ino asks.

"Because now I have three friends."

"Three?" Sakura says.

"Yeah, Sakura-chan. You, Hinata-chan, and Ino-chan."

"What about your other friends?"

"I… don't have other friends. But that's OK, because I have the three of you. Oh yeah, Hanabi-chan is my friend too, so I have four friends."

"Who's Hanabi?" Ino asks.

"She's… my younger sister."

"I see."

"Ne, Sakura-chan, Ino-chan do you want to play with us today?" Naruto asks.

"OK, but what are we playing?" Sakura asks.

"I don't know yet, what do you think Hinata-chan?"

"I… I don't know either…"

"Hey! I have an idea. Let's play family."

"Family? What is that?" Naruto asks.

"We pretend to be a family. So you would be the father, and I'll be the mother, and…"

"Wait a minute Ino, why do you get to be the mother," Sakura says.

"Well, I came up with the idea after all."

"I… I would like to… be the mother as well."

"Now that's dumb. We can't have three mothers and no children. …Or the two of you just want to be Naruto-kun's wife?"

Sakura starts yelling and chasing Ino around in anger and embarrassment, while the blonde girls is laughing at her pink-haired friend. Hinata's face is so red that Naruto almost comments how much she looks like a tomato, but said boy is too distract by the antics of Sakura and Ino to notice the blushing girl standing beside him. When Sakura and Ino finally settle down, Hinatas notice someone walking toward them.

"Tenten-senpai!"

"Ohaiyo Hinata-chan. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here with my friends. This is Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan, and Ino-chan."

"Ohaiyo minna-san. My name is Tenten."

"Tenten-senpai, did you just get out of the academy?" Hinata asks.

"Yeah. The classes are hell. The things I do to become the best Kunoichi."

"You are attending the academy Tenten?" Ino asks.

"Uh huh. The classes are really boring though. I can't wait till I graduate and become a ninja. So, what are you guys doing?"

"Well, Ino suggested that we can play family, but we can't figure out who is going to be the mother," Sakura says.

"Let me guess, all three of you want to be the mother?"

"That's right," Ino says.

"I can't blame you, with this cutie being the father and all."

"Tenten-senpai!" Hinata screams, blushing bright red.

"I have a way to solve the problem if you let me join."

"OK. The more the happier," Naruto says, trying to end the arguing between the girls.

"Why can't we all just take turn being the mother?"

The girls all agree with Tenten's suggestion and start their game, though Ino is a bit upset that she couldn't come up with a solution as simple as that. By the time the girls have to go home, Naruto is utterly exhausted. When he agreed to play the game, he was under the impression that the "mother" would be doing the housework like all the stories he heard. What ended up happening was that Tenten, Sakura, and most of all Ino kept ordering him around telling him to do all the work. Only Hinata acted like one of the housewives that he heard about. Although things didn't exactly go the way he thought it would, he's still happy that he met two more new friends and regained another today.

As Naruto is about to leave after saying goodbyes to the girls, the Hyuuga guard walks up to Naruto and Hinata and states that Hiashi had invited the boy to attend dinner with them. When the two children reach the Hyuuga compound, they find the dinner is a private manner, as Hiashi, Hinata, and Naruto are the only ones present. Hiashi explained that Hanabi would be there as well, but she would move around in excitement as soon as she sees Naruto, so Hiashi decides that it's best if he let the other clan member take care of Hanabi today.

"So, what did you two do today?" Hiashi asks, looking up from his meal.

"Hinata-chan and I played family today with Sakura-chan, Ino-chan, and Tenten-chan."

"Played family?" Hiashi says.

"Yeah, Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, Ino-chan, and Tenten-chan took turns being the mother and I was the father…"

"I see. So, do you like your wives?"

"Ino-chan was too bossy, Sakura-chan and Tenten-chan too. I like Hinata-chan best."

"So when you grow up, would you like to marry Hinata?'

"Chichi-ue!" Hinata screams, blushing.

"I would love to marry Hinata-chan," Naruto says, ignoring Hinata's reaction.

Hearing what Naruto said, Hinata busies herself with the bowl of rice in front of her. She feels so embarrassed that she is suffering from one of the bad cases of blushing again. Though secretly in her heart, she is overjoyed with what Naruto said, even if Naruto had no idea what he was talking about.

While Hiashi is interrogating Naruto, Ino is giving her account of what happened today, and faces a similar question from her parents.

"So, what does my little princess think of Naruto-kun?" Inoichi asks.

"He is really funny and nice, he did everything I asked him to do when we were playing family."

"How would you like Naruto-kun to become your real husband when you grow up?"

"Hmm… I don't know. I still think Sasuke-kun is cooler, but he doesn't treat me anywhere near as nice as Naruto-kun. I can't decide yet, but I think Hinata-chan likes Naruto-kun a lot more than I do. I'm done now, dinner is delicious like always mom. I'm going to my room."

Yamanaka Inoichi watches his daughter's back as she heads upstairs. As soon as their daughter is out of the earshot, his wife hits him on the back of head.

"What are you trying to do, force our daughter to marry Naruto? While I don't have anything against the boy, I'd rather let Ino pick someone she actually likes not someone forced upon her by her own father."

"I just wish that she would get her mind off of…"

"I don't like that Uchiha anymore than you do, but that doesn't mean you should force someone on her."

"All right, all right. I won't mention it in front of her again," Inoichi says, putting up his hands to placate his wife.

"Good."

As soon as Sakura gets home, her mother begins bombarding her with questions. Being her tired self, the last thing on her mind is showing respect to her mother. She walks right pass her mother and props herself onto the sofa.

"Young lady, are you even listening to me?"

"Mom, I'm really tired," Sakura whines

"I take it you had fun today."

"Yeah, Naruto-kun was there with Hinata-chan…"

"Hinata? As in Hyuuga Hinata?"

"Yeah. I think so. I mean, only the Hyuugas have those white eyes right?"

"So what happened?"

"We wanted to play family, but we couldn't decide who will be the mother, but then Hinata-chan's friend Tenten-chan showed up and suggested that we should take turn. I think Naruto-kun is the most tired one though, Tenten-chan and Ino-chan were really ordering him around."

"I'm glad that you had fun today. Why don't you go upstairs and change, dinner will be ready soon."

"OK, mom."

As Mrs. Haruno watches her daughter head upstairs, she can't help but to feel glad that the Yamanakas convinced her that Naruto isn't who she made him out to be. Hearing that the boy have befriended the Hyuugas only serves to confirm what Ino's parents said. Knowing how her daughter is often subjected to mean comments from others around her age, she is glad that her daughter has gained a few precious friends.

Tenten walks home happily. Not only did the distractions make her forget all about the tough day at the academy, she met three new friends along with it. Beside, spending time with others beats staying home all alone anytime. Ever since her parents died on a mission, she has been staying at the orphanage. Only recently when she entered the academy did they give her enough money to get herself a small apartment. While it is nice to be out of the orphanage, it is quite boring to be by herself all the time. She tosses her book bag at the hanger without even taking a look, and it ends up hanging there perfectly. Humming as she picks out an outfit, she proceeds to her favorite activity of the day: taking a bath.

"Ah, this is nice. Hmm, I hope Naruto-kun didn't mind me making him do all those stuff, but I can't help it, he looks so cute with that little pout every time I ask him to do something."

Letting her train of thought run wild, she soon loses track of time. She doesn't come out of her stupor until her stomach starts complaining of its emptiness. Quickly drying herself, she puts on her clothes and prepares a quick dinner. As she prepares for bed, the day's other activity starts coming back to her.

"Ah! I completely forgot to do homework! Sensei is going to kill me!"

Scrambling out of bed, Tenten almost tears apart her book bag trying to get everything out. Muttering curses under her breath, she scribbles down all the answers to the homework questions as quick as she can just so she would have something to hand in the next day. If she actually paid attention to what she was writing, maybe she would be able to avoid the strange looks the teachers gave her two days later.

Additional Author's Note: Leave a note if you like the story.