I don't own Naruto

Chapter 3: Friendship Over Rivalry

Sound Ruins:

"What a strange phenomenon, yeah." Said Deidara, looking at his surroundings, trees bent towards a huge crater with debris everywhere, ruins were placed in the irregular crater as if something sucked up all of the Sound Village

"It is strange, something in here happened that you don't see everyday." Said the Scythe wielding Hidan, crossing his arms and looked around the crater, there was something in this place that almost totally separated them from their dimension, just by looking at the ground.

Itachi only walked, picking up rocks and began investigating on his own, without speaking, Kisame on the other hand, was impatient, his sadistic tendencies were getting the better of him, and there was nothing to do in such an awful place!

"This investigation is already down on the crapper, it's too dull." Said the fish man as he was ignored by his associates, still looking around while Hidan kept on focusing on the crater.

"Although this place is attached to our world, its seems that it has subtly drifted apart from our world, Said Hidan, looking at the night sky to observe the heavens, there was something odd about everything in this place, it's as if, the snake had planned something before he was backstabbed by that Konoha Rouge, Uchiha Sasuke. For now, they still need to keep on investigating. Eventually, they'll find the cause of this anomaly

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Nerima:

For all of the troubles and misadventures Uchiha Sasuke had back in his genin days, none of them could have helped him in the trouble Uzumaki Naruto had placed on them, starting today, they would be sent back to school to study again! A fate that Sasuke considered irksome at best, as he stared at the object of his trouble in front of him, Uzumaki Naruto. Staring at the blonde as he walked almost oblivious to his disdaining gaze, Sasuke was becoming annoyed just how he was able to smile in such a situation!

"Naruto, for the record, what you just did, made me consistently pissed that I acknowledged you as my rival." Said Sasuke, to which Naruto answered

"Ah, you wouldn't understand the predicament that I placed us all in anyway." Said the blonde to which the Raven haired Uchiha retorted with a large voice

"I perfectly know our situation here!" Said the pissed uncharacteristic Sasuke, to which Naruto slouched, sighed and gave a reply

"Look, if we were to move like the shadows, and act like ghosts haunting this town at night, you'd think you may actually get the right answers? Sasuke, gathering data means both placing things in a subjective and objective perspective; you can't possibly gather data objectively alone, you'd build a lot of misconceptions that'll totally drift off from the plan that you had in mind, placing you in a situation where you'd spend a lot more time deducing when the answer is just an interview away." Said Naruto

"So what does that school have that you made us forcefully study there huh?" Asked Sasuke to this Naruto replied again

"Nothing, although the school has its occasion of weird appearances and events from time to time." Said the blonde.

"Then it's senseless that you forced us to go there!" Said the Uchiha

"No it's not, that man in blue, you notice that he was wearing some type of weird blue suit that's considered a uniform yes?" Asked Naruto and Sasuke nodded

"Well, from what I could tell, he's an officer, so that means we can know immediately just how large this place is, knowing the geographic boundary of this town, we'd have a good idea how to map out our investigation, and from what I can tell we have huge ground to cover." Said Naruto

Sakura and Hinata became quite intrigued of Naruto's logic, it was just surprising that the blonde boy was that smart to begin with, training with the perverted sennin made him somewhat smart, eventually all of them paused and remained silent but unfortunately, all the training in the world did not prepare Naruto and the gang to there next predicament, they had finally realized how desperate their situation was.

"WE HAVE NO PLACE TO STAY!" Yelled all four, yes even the shy Hyuuga girl screamed, the four were currently, homeless bums on the street and it was already night time, and Naruto doubts that any inn would gladly accept such people with almost no monetary expenses left, due to, Naruto's over eating expenses over the café, the uniforms they had to buy, the books that they had to purchase and certainly the tuition fee that they had to pay for the school!

'Not to self, never let Naruto-kun handle things financially when given the chance' Thought Hinata as she had to admit, it was one of flaws of the desire of her affections, although Naruto was an earnest saver, he was also a BIG spender, he couldn't handle cash that easily! Although they all had money, it was actually not enough to use their paper money here, making their monetary contributions worthless, however, Naruto saved everything even to the last coin, maybe because of the life the blonde had endured during his childhood years, it was one of the things that saddened Hinata about the blonde

"NA-RU-TO! Don't expect us to camp out at this time especially in the middle of a huge place with a lot people living here! We'd look like a couple of traveling bums with no place to stay!" Said Sakura and Naruto scratched his head

'Don't point out the obvious!' Thought the boy, laughing nervously and scratching his head

"I guess I still have more ways to go before I could match the Pineapple head's deductive skills." Said the blonde and someone in the other world sneezed.

"What the hell are we supposed to do now!?" Asked the ill-tempered Sakura, perhaps more ill-tempered than the blonde Jinchuuriki, He had thought about going back to the good doctor's clinic but Naruto wouldn't want to imply more on the good doctor's kindness,

'I guess we'll just have to find a place to stay at night for a while, though I doubt they'd accept a bunch of weirdly dressed people to stay for the night'

Tendo Residence:

All was quiet in the Tendo residence until a doorbell was heard over at the front door.

Kasumi, ever the family attendant, rushed to the front door and then slides the door open to reveal four weary teenagers wearing weird outfits in the middle of the night

"Can we please stay for the night at your residence? We've got no money left and we were told that this place accepts freeloaders to stay for a while! Don't worry we won't be freeloading, just don't mind our suits and we'll gladly pay you until we can find a place to stay!" Bowed the blonde to which Kasumi gave a motherly smile and a loud noise could be heard on the background

"Give me back my fish old man!" Said Ranma as he chased his own father with a pair of chopsticks with his right hand and a bowl of rice on his left.

"No, this is the fish that I earned fair and square! Don't be a sore loser and accept the fact that everything you do is a part of training you need to surpass!" Said Genma and Ranma screamed from the top of his lungs

"You selfish prick! I ought to break your neck for being such a goddamn deceitful human being; you're one of the lowest low, just like that perverted old fart!" Said the boy to which the glasses wearing man replied

"Oh, for shame! The fact that I can't even raise my child to show such a familial respect for his own father! What kind of failure am I?" Asked the crying Genma a flow of tears rushing from his eyes

"How could I respect a father that treated me like fish bait since the day I was born and up until the day I could learn to talk!? Huh!? You and your so called sense of pride! I'm the one who should be ashamed of having a homeless bum of a failure like you as my father!" Said Ranma and Akane muttered

"Who's the homeless bum here?"

Ranma was pounding his own father until he could see the person Kasumi was talking to, it was that blonde haired young man and his friends that they had accidentally met a couple of days ago.

"Yo, I see you get along with your old man well?" Said the blonde and the pigtailed haired man replied

"Don't ever relate to this failure." Said the boy to which the four outside shrugged.

"Well anyway, nee-chan…"

"Kasumi, Tendo Kasumi" Said the motherly figure of the Tendo household

"Ah yes, Kasumi-neechan, could we stay for while here? We'll gladly pay…" Said the blonde and before Kasumi could answer, Soun immediately stood up along with Nabiki and then hastily walked up to Naruto shaking his hand furiously

"Yes! We would be glad to! It's a whole lot better than letting those two isoro (freeloaders) stay with no fee! I mean we have to pay for their expenses as well!" Said Nabiki grabbing a piece of paper and then almost instantly, created a written contract, complete with seal of approval of the Tendo Household

Naruto then signed the contract and then grabbed the money from his Gama-chan who was already malnutritioned from the expenses they had to pay and grabbed two Gold Coins that Nabiki's eyes glow in yellow.

"Sorry, I only have Five Hundred Ryou with me, would two hundred be enough?" Asked the blonde and the two earnestly nodded

"Yes, most certainly! It would be enough for you to stay for at least a month!" Said the Tendo patriarch and the Blonde Rejoiced

"Yay! That means we can sleep in a bed! You guys hear that?" Asked the delighted blonde and the four nodded

"So where are our rooms, Tendo-san? And could we please use the bathroom?" Asked the polite Hinata and the patriarch guided them to their rooms, since it was a rather large house, the rooms were each separated to four of them, one room for each, and with Naruto's generous donations, it helped that all of them got different rooms.

As soon as they settled in, it was fortunate that these people were good at storing materials in their scrolls even their nightly wears were placed, the convenience of such a technique was absolutely invaluable for ninjas on the go.

It was then that the two girls of Naruto's group exited their rooms with their own respective towels and PJ's

"Looks like we'll share the bath together for today, Hinata-chan." Said Sakura smiling and Hinata nodded with a smile of her own, the two boys were dead asleep in their own rooms.

Bathroom:

Sakura was settling in the bath as the Hinata poured water over her head and scrubbed her arms. Sakura, being a careful woman she is, looked the door of the bathroom to prevent any 'accidental' confrontations

"Say Hinata-chan, have you noticed Naruto's progress lately?" Asked Sakura and to this Hinata was startled and blushed seeing a wryly smiling Sakura whose chin rested at the edge of the tub.

"W-What are you talking about Sakura-chan?" Asked the shy Hyuuga girl and Sakura laughed lightly

"The way he took responsibility for his friends silly, you know how he's getting to be more responsible and evidently smarter." Said Sakura and Hinata nervously nodded

"Y-yes I've noticed that too, he's showing signs of an actually promising Hokage." Said Hinata, and Sakura said again, getting out of the tub and then scrubbed Hinata's back

"But you know, he won't always be available for you Hinata-chan, look at how those females at the school we're in are beginning to look at him, he may not have noticed but some of the girls are starting to notice him!" Said Sakura.

Sakura hit the nail on the head with that statement, how can Hinata possibly deny that? Indeed Naruto was getting more and more handsome, and with his boundless attitude, it was sure to put any girl in curiosity and interest in him.

"How long are you going to wait and tell him, Hinata? He's not a very deep person though he's beginning to understand, he's still too dense to understand your feelings if you give it subtly and we're talking about a guy who didn't know that the girl that had a huge crush on him since school days existed. He's too shallow for that especially since he has had no experience of affection." Said Sakura as she poured water on Hinata's back and Hinata did the same to Sakura

Indeed, Naruto was dense but he had every excuse to be dense, because he didn't experience affection all throughout his life, he doesn't know how and when to react to people showing signs of affection, another sad quality that Naruto experienced that made Hinata lament and sympathized for the boy.

"You know, the sad thing about him is, even though he claims to being Hokage one day acknowledging his existence, deep inside, he always thinks that he couldn't learn to love because of his status, a status that he had shared to multiple beings like with Gaara of the Sand." Said Sakura now it was her turn to be sad also, it was one thing that team Seven's Kakashi and Yamato had frequently said to Sakura, being his teammate. It saddened Sakura because of Naruto's status as a Jinchuuriki, forever damned by the people they saved, and forever damned by the demons that they held back.

"Sakura-chan… By any chance, are you… F-Falling for Naruto-kun?" Asked Hinata and Sakura gave a shook

"No but as his teammate, and possibly a sisterly figure for him, its just, too heavy to handle you know, it's his insecurities that hurt me the most." Said Sakura as she grabbed a towel and began to dry herself

"I understand… Then, could I possibly help Naruto-kun?" Asked the shy girl and Sakura answered

"Only you can answer that question Hinata-chan." Said Sakura wearing her PJ's and exited the bathroom on her own, leaving the Hyuuga girl deep in thought.

The next morning:

Uzumaki Naruto, began to open his eyes, four thirty in the morning still too early but it was enough as he began to fix his futon, he stopped as he stared at the picture frames that was at the end of his room, a picture of team seven when they were young and a picture of the Yondaime Hokage, wearing a big grin similar to Naruto's with a red headed woman at her side, equally smiling the same as the Yondaime.

Without missing a beat, Naruto did a double take and stealthily activated a sound proof jutsu and pulled out a scroll, inside the scroll, he touched the Kanji, Center and then in a small puff of smoke, another scroll came out, it was a scroll that Jiraiya gave to him, and instructed to read it when he knows it is safe, it was about the Yondaime and his precious legacy.

Naruto had opened the scroll and began reading its contents, it was here that Naruto learned about his father's true name, Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage and the Konoha no Kiroi Senkou (The Leaf's Yellow Flash), and the true identity of his mother, Uzumaki Kushina

Naruto stared sadly at the contents,

'I know you wanted to protect me and all, but couldn't you at least leave a memento when I was a kid? It would have helped during those cold rainy days when I was so alone.'

After he finished reading his letter, Naruto then closed the scroll and looked at the time, five thirty in the morning, he could already hear Kasumi preparing breakfast and most of his team, were still asleep, so he went outside, still in his PJ's and saw Sasuke, sitting at the edge of the wooden floor and facing the small pond and rising sun, meditating.

"You're up early." Said Sasuke and then Naruto shrugged and said

"Same thing to you."

"Hmph." Said the boy as he continued his meditation and Naruto joined, after thirty minutes, Naruto quickly went for a shower, wore his new uniform and then got down stairs, as he was passing through the hallway, he heard an explosion that managed to shake the entire Tendo residence, that meant one thing,

'Sakura.' Thought both Naruto and Sasuke, walking straight at the said Girl's room and saw a huge hole that was formerly the wall.

"YOU PERVERT! I'LL CASTRATE YOU!" Yelled the hot headed Sakura after punching out the lecherous Happosai with her overly monstrous strength

Apparently, Happosai got word that the blonde that had humiliated him with a silly technique was in the complex, overwhelmed by Happosai's desire for revenge, he decided to draw doodles with a permanent marker on the man's face while he was sleeping. Happosai entered the room cautiously, as he sneaked past the room stealthily, he uncovered the bed sheets only to find a sleeping Sakura, now much to Sakura's chagrin, the whole stress that she experienced last night was too much that she was eventually in a deep sleep.

Happosai, instead of his anger getting the best of him, lust was creeping his way inside his blood vessels that he totally forgot about his revenge and settled to sleep on the woman's chest. That didn't bode well for Happosai by the time Sakura woke up.

"I see that you had met our master over there." Said Soun and Sakura was showing signs of murderous intent over at the tiny old prune

"Sakura-chan, c-c-calm down! We can talk this over at the old man! There's no need for vio-" Naruto was quiet when his mouth was covered by Sasuke and said to him

"You know what happens when you try to reason with an angry Sakura don't you?" Sasuke said and Naruto shuddered, he then sidestepped out of the way and just let Sakura let loose.

"Don't try to reason to Sakura, or else she might put you in the same manner as that guy she'll definitely cream." Said Sasuke and Naruto paled at the thought, he knew about Sakura's mean streak when it came to beating up perverts especially if it involved her!

Naruto gave a big sigh and then said to Sasuke,

"Got any wood?" To which Sasuke stared at the blonde boy with a look that gave

'What am I, a lumberjack?' look

Today was not a good day to start

Furinkan High:

Going to school was uneventful, although Ranma preferred to walk on rails, Naruto and friends preferred to walk on solid ground leisurely walking towards school, with Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata wearing their Seifuku (School Uniforms)

"So that's basically it actually, Happosai is a great martial artist, just be careful when he's around women, he'll fondle over them and attach himself over the chest like a cat on a tree."

"And he's a martial artist because…?" Asked the Naruto

"Don't underestimate that guy, he's a tricky old man, he may not look and act like it, but he's a dangerous opponent to deal with." Said Ranma just as they turned to a corner and entering school grounds, a blue kimono wearing man, with bandage covering his entire face was raising his sword up high and then swinging it like a gorilla

"Ah! You vile foreign sorcerer… And Ranma! My two most hated men! You dare shop up on the grounds that I, Tatewaki Kuno walk upon!?" Asked Kuno and Naruto looked at him with disinterest

"Who's this guy?" Asked the boy closing his eyes, began thinking and then finally, hitting his closed right hand on the palm of his other hand

"Ah! Now I remember! You're that guy that I beat up the other day!" Said Naruto and both Ranma and Akane did the same gesture as Naruto

'So that's what happened to him the other day.'

But before Kuno could deliver a strike to Ranma and or possibly Naruto, he had seen two absolutely stunning girls that were talking to each other! Kuno, rather than attacking the two men, dashed towards the women and ignoring, Sasuke, by hitting him on the side, which made Sasuke fall down on the side

"Ah! The fair and beautiful maidens that has graced upon my grounds! Has your interest in the mystique of the blue thunder brought you here?" Asked the man to which the two sweatdropped

"No we enrolled here because our two friends are here." Said Sakura as she pointed towards Naruto with both hands at the back of his head and then to Sasuke who has obviously pissed that he was pushed down by such a rude man

"Nonsense! You two enrolled here just to see me, wasn't it? No need to be shy! My chest is free for all the beautiful women! Now come! Dive into the arms of the blue thunder that is Tatewaki Kuno!" Said the man as he then leaped towards the two, the girls, with their nimble reflexes, managed to dodge the incoming man that was about to grope at them

"Could I please kill him?" Asked Sasuke to Naruto, obviously, the raven haired Uchiha could not take the obnoxious comments about the blue thunder, and he dared to push down an Uchiha! An elite! This man shall pay!

"Go easy on him Sasuke, don't try to kill him. I'm controlling my urge to kill him as well, we'd be in deep shit if we decide to waste this guy." Said Naruto and Sasuke cracked his neck, and his fist

"I was obviously pissed that I couldn't find anything to relieve off my stress, and this guy happens to be the object that I most certainly hate! God, he's worst than you Naruto." Said the raven haired Uchiha, Kuno, oblivious to the approaching Uchiha, was still trying to leap at the girls who were dodging like they couldn't even break a single sweat and politely said, No thanks.

Once Sasuke came close to him, Kuno immediately turned around and then accidentally groped Sasuke's… Tools. Everyone stared at the two for a moment and the silence was broken by Naruto's snicker, this was worse than THEIR accident!

"THAT FUCKING TEARS IT! I'LL KILL YOU!" Said the Uchiha as he grabbed Kuno by the collar and punched him to the ground, that had sent Kuno skidding on the ground.

Once Kuno stood up, the Uchiha, using his speed and agility appeared just below Kuno's vision and was sent flying upwards with a rising vertical kick

"Sasuke disappeared again and reappeared at Kuno's back, he proceeded to kick the man with his right leg and then spun around with his right arm hitting Kuno square on the abdomen, forcing Sasuke to face Kuno as they both fell on the ground Sasuke then smacked Kuno with his left and finished it off with a heel drop in the abdomen exactly the same time they hit the ground

"Shishi Rendan! (Lion combo)" Said Sasuke back flipping back towards the group and Naruto asked

"You killed him?" Asked Naruto and Sasuke said,

"No, I did what you told me to. Besides we'd be in trouble if I killed this guy." Said Sasuke.

Ranma whistled, now this was another strong guy, this man was as fast as Naruto if not faster.

"So fast…" Said Akane and Ranma nodded

"Well, now that's taken care off, we should hurry, we'd be late for class." Said Sakura and the four nodded walking inside the campus, leaving the yet again, sprawled Kuno on the ground as the bell rang

Now class was nothing special, basic history, math, Japanese and then break, Naruto actually got interested in history, his interest had been piqued by the lecture about the Shinsengumi and its members, during the final moments of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Soon it was break time and then the four stood up from class, heading towards upstairs to talk about their current situation with a couple of girls chasing both Sasuke and Naruto

"I see you have your fair share of trouble with women as well dobe." Said Sasuke and Naruto quickly mentioned

"Shut up." Said Naruto with quite an annoyed look, they dashed towards the window and jumped outside.

They landed on the ground safely using their skills and then separated from each other. Naruto had the bright idea to use his chakra and then rushed upwards on the walls when no one was looking, he jumped at the top as he neared the fence

Naruto landed on the floor on his feet and breathe a sign of relief as he then saw Hinata on the roof with one of her hands clinging on the fence

"Hinata-chan? What are you doing here?" Asked the boy and Hinata turned around with a blush on her face, as she faced the object of her affections, she couldn't help but feel a little sad about what Sakura told about her yesterday, about Naruto's very fragile inner self

'If I would be given the chance to mend the pieces in his heart… Could I possibly do it?' Thought the Hyuuga girl as she placed one hand on her chest, looking away from Naruto and then stared at the ground as if it was more interesting

"Hinata-chan? What's going on? Something happened?" Asked Naruto as he approached the Hyuuga girl with concern written all over his face. He didn't like seeing Hinata like this, it made him somewhat, sad, something was definitely making the Hyuuga girl concerned

"You okay?" Asked Naruto then touching Hinata's forehead with his as he closed his eyes as if wanting to know something

Hinata, turned as red as a tomato as she was staring at the blonde with a surprised look, she couldn't handle such a forward confrontation as of now!

"Well, it looks like you don't have a fever, want to talk about something?" Asked the boy and Hinata shook her head. Naruto sighed while sitting down and then gazed up at the sky.

"You know Hinata-chan… Ever since I was a kid, I always gazed at the sky when I was so alone and was ultimately bored."

An image of a six year old Naruto appeared in the head of our young hero, sitting at the shade of a tree while staring at the sky, with almost an apathetic look, nothing special, nothing emotional. Naruto didn't know why he brought this subject up

"I didn't exactly know what I was doing… Because it was just a childish thing. But staring at it almost made me realize that life was slowly slipping away from my own hands… Like grains of sand that I couldn't keep. Not a day passed by as the empty clear blue sky made me realize just how painful it was that the only guidance and support when I was a kid, was the blue sky above my head and the wind blowing on my shoulders" Said Naruto, now his head was resting on the rails staring at the sky, while Hinata just leaned on the fence, and then looked at Naruto then at the sky

"But then, staring at it for a while made me forget all of my worries, and almost makes my day. Like how those three minutes of waiting for your ramen to cook is just worth the wait." Said Naruto smiling at Hinata, with Hinata smiling at him

"But probably, you'll never forget the only thing that makes you so different from the rest." Said Naruto sadly as he got up, he was about to walk out, Hinata grabbed Naruto's hand

"E-even if I could offer little help… I-I want Naruto-kun to know that I would gladly support him through the times of trouble… I-It's the least that I could do for him… I want to… Help him with everything I have… Because Naruto-kun is one of the most important people in my life… So with all of my strength." Said the Hyuuga girl, with shaking hands, she hugged Naruto with Naruto's back was turned

"Thank you, you don't know how much that means to me… Hinata-chan." Said the boy.

Hinata then looked at Naruto, Hinata could have sworn that Naruto was wiping something from his eyes with his shoulders. Naruto then rushed away as the bells rang

'I'll do it… I'll heal Naruto-kun's weary heart…' Said the Hyuuga heiress as she walked towards class catching up with the rowdy blonde

When they reached class, Sasuke was glaring at him with a mean look

"Where were you?" Asked the annoyed Uchiha obviously, he couldn't get away from the girls in this world, the women here were a whole lot worse!

"I had to withstand the rush of women from not only on my side, but from yours as well. How did you manage to get away!?" Asked Sasuke, Naruto only gave a reply

"Ain't tellin'" Said the boy and Sasuke only gave a grunt as an answer.

After class:

The six were already heading home, after a whole day of classes, they were glad that they were back at home. After such a stressful day, for both Naruto and Sasuke, they were glad to go to their rooms and rest. But alas their trouble didn't end there!

"To avoid having the same incident that happened this morning, we have decided to place the girls in each of the boys' rooms, please bear with this for a while as the repairs are being made. This is also to avoid master from invading any of the girls' privacy." Said Soun pointing to the lump of bandages that was Happosai

"Sakura, you overdid it." Said Sasuke and Sakura only answered

"That lecherous freak deserved it!" Said Sakura, indeed, this woman inherited the legendary Tsunade's equally legendary temper. But Naruto and Hinata were silent; they were both staring at the floor and were blushing.

Hinata blushed even further recalling the moment that they had on the roof. Naruto couldn't even look straight towards the girl. And whenever one or the other were to look at their side, they would always end up staring at each other for less than a second and then avoid each other's glances

"Well, now that it's settled, please join us for dinner later on." Said Soun and bowed down.

"Well see you guys, I need to go train." Said Ranma and Akane waved off to do her own training as well

Naruto's room:

Naruto was lying on his bed and was staring at the ceiling as if deep in thought but he was actually doing nothing probably because he was actually bored, he couldn't do anything because he was tired, as the ceiling fan was rotating, he was already in his home outfit, wearing a pair of shorts and a black T-Shirt.

A moment later, there was a knock on his door and Naruto quickly got up and slid the door open to reveal Hinata with her futon and some of her materials.

"Oh, Hinata, please come in!" Said Naruto with a smile, it still felt awkward but at least he'll try to destroy any awkwardness that he felt towards the girl, after all, he never wants to have any awkward moments to the people he was close to, besides, as he had stated before, Jinchuuriki are forbidden to love, lest they want to share their misery with the person they love.

Hinata had entered the boy's room, and as she looked around the room, he quickly noticed three picture frames on the small desk. First was a picture of team seven, three years ago, another was the current team seven and their new members, comprised of the copy ninja Kakashi, the elite member of the ANBU, Yamato and the former member of Roots, Sai. But the picture that struck her the most was the picture on the right, it was a picture of a man that looked exactly like Naruto, except he had no whisker marks and a red headed woman, who was absolutely beautiful. Hinata was shocked though, the man that looked like Naruto was the same man that looked exactly like the Yondaime Hokage!

"I see you have noticed the photos huh?" Asked the boy until he realized that she was staring at the photo of his own father!

'Oh, shit! Now she knows one of my most important secrets!' Thought Naruto, what an idiot he was, not hiding the photo of his dead parents from anyone, including his friends, even though Sakura and Sasuke did know about the Kyuubi no Kitsune, they didn't exactly know about Naruto's exact heritage, since there was no official records of his birth and the fact that Naruto never exactly knew who his parents were!

"Naruto-kun, who were those persons, your parents? What are their names?" Asked Hinata, Naruto then closed the door and locked it, he then placed a soundproof seal on the front of the door and told her

"To answer your first question Hinata, yes, they are my parents. As for the names, I'll tell you if you promise not to let this secret out to either Sasuke and Sakura." Said Naruto and Hinata nodded her head

"All right, my father's name is Namikaze Minato, and my mother is Uzumaki Kushina." Said Naruto and Hinata wondered

"Then why were you named Uzumaki rather than Namikaze?" Asked Hinata, Namikaze Minato, it rings a bell but she can't tell when and how…

"It was for protection, my father had a lot of enemies especially from Earth Country." Said Naruto, Hinata then asked him yet again

"But if he made a lot of enemies, I'm sure it still isn't enough to name you under the name Uzumaki and not Namikaze, not unless you were the son of a high ranking official like…" Hinata gasped when she remembered the name, no wonder he was named after his mother! Namikaze Minato was the name of the Yondaime Hokage!

"So you realized his true identity eh Hinata?" Asked the boy with a forced smile

"Yes… I never thought that the person in front of me, is none other than the son of the Yondaime Hokage, it should have been plainly obvious with the resemblance, although I merely shrugged it off as a coincidence." Said Hinata as she picked up the photo, what an irony that the people would love the Yondaime while they hated his son… Why did it have to be this? Why didn't Naruto get the respect and affection he so desired so much when he was a child?

Hinata slowly put her hands on her mouth and tears were slowly falling from her eyes, the contacts that she wore were falling off, revealing her pearly lavender eyes that seemed to be lamenting

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" Mumbled Hinata as she dropped the photo and kneeled down holding her face and had let the tears fall.

Naruto only stood there, not knowing what to do, why would someone, with no familial relation to him, feel sadness and sympathy over his tragic family, a father who was forced to do the most painful choices in his life watching his wife die in the hospital and then sealing the Kyuubi inside his own son at the cost of his own life and his son's fate. It was just unbearable to comprehend even for Naruto who only gritted his teeth as he only closed his eyes and turned away his face from the crying Hinata.

"Damn it all…" The boy muttered he could only sit down and wait for the girl to finish her own session of tears, Naruto couldn't do anything in his situation, he didn't exactly know what to do, but before he could stand and walk to Hinata to try and comfort her, he was hugged by the Hyuuga heiress as she had placed Naruto's head on her shoulder with Naruto only muttering

"So… Warm" Said Naruto the comforting hug that Hinata gave.

Hinata heard Naruto and hugged him tighter, with Naruto couldn't move his whole body too shocked about the situation, but he showed no emotion as he stared at the picture of his father

'Tell me dad… Is this really what you're supposed to feel, when someone is this close to your heart that you can't do anything as you watch them feel for your pain… It hurts… Hurts so much…'

Thought the boy not moving his eyes from the picture as Hinata continued to hold him tight

'No matter what… I want to support Naruto-kun' Thought Hinata as she continued her tears, now Hinata would act as Naruto's light to guide him, be the person Naruto never had and be the one to finally light the lamp to Naruto's household…

End!

Okay, since I got busy with summer classes because it was in my curriculum and my case studies and night shift duties, I couldn't properly update, also the fact that I had severe Writer's Block didn't help my situation. I'm very sorry!