The First Words Echo

I'm sad because I contribute to the storyline so much, but they gave all the credits to Masashi Kishimoto. I mean, I only said I liked the name of the manga, but still.

Dedicated to devilzxknight86 for being my first reviewer and for saying some really nice things.

Guys, if you capture my heart with the things you say, I will create a story in your honor, any kind. But, ONLY if I say you did. I will request what type of story and pairing you like.

This is my second NaruHina. The song is Echo by Trapt. Very good song. It's also an AU. Any Hinata or Naruto haters, PLEASE KNOW THERE IS A BACK BUTTON ON YOUR DEVICE.

If you like, please feel free to favorite, review, or even follow me. On with the story. Tout de suite.

NH

Namikaze Naruto stared at his crying best friend. He was clueless in knowing what number this was. That found Hinata outside in the cold rain over the course of their 12 year friendship. He lost count sometime after the seventh. He had always lost count with Hinata.

One thing the 17 year old did know was that Hinata was never this down. Hinata never had bruises when he first met her. Hinata was never so willing to stay in pain.

He ignored the echo in his stomach as the Hyuuga laid her head on his shoulder. Naruto distinctly remembered all the things Hinata never was, but somehow had become.

(Flashback)

A five year old Naruto sat on his floor playing with a stuffed frog. His eyes piercing the frog, begging it to say something. Anything.

He saw its mouth move. He knew it, or Gama as he liked to call it, was going to speak. However, a voice interrupted their one-sided conversation.

"Naru-chan. I thought I told you to get ready. We're meeting your father in the park for lunch today. You know how busy he is as the leader of the country." A female voice chided.

Naruto looked away from the frog to his mother, Kushina, who was busy pulling out orange shorts and a white shirt for him.

"Kaa-san. Gama almost spoke to me, but you walked in." He said.

The woman smiled, striding over to help the half naked boy with his clothing. "You have a big imagination, Naruto-kun. Come."

"No, no. I can do this. I'm a big boy." After a moment of wrestling his clothes a bit, he smiled triumphantly. "Done!"

Kushina folded her arms. "Your shirt is backward and inside out."

Observing, Naruto glared. "Dattebayo!" He yelled as his mother fixed his clothing and pulled out some brown sandals.

"There. Now, we're done. Come on, your father will be worried." The woman grabbed her son's small hand.

After letting Naruto say goodbye to his pet fox, Kurama, they set off for the park.

The day was very beautiful, Naruto had noted. The birds were chirping. Everyone said hi to them. Even the park held a few more people than usual.

When they got their, Naruto noticed some good friends from his preschool class. Sasuke and Shikamaru. There were also other kids, but Naruto had no clue who they were.

His father, a complete replica minus the whiskered birthmarks, was sitting on a picnic blanket without guards surrounding him. Obviously, the man knew how to take care of himself. He smiled and lifted Naruto in the air.

"Naruto. I missed you so much." He gave the boy sloppy kisses all over his face.

Noticing others watching their small family, Naruto squirmed and blushed. "You saw me this morning, tou-san."

"Exactly." Minato, his father's name, said. He put Naruto down and stared at his wife. "You can go play now." He said lovingly without giving his son a second glance.

Naruto rolled his eyes and ran over to Sasuke, who was practically begging him to hurry over.

"I keep forgetting how your father looks just like you." The raven whispered when he was near.

"You see him on television everyday. How?" Naruto whispered back.

The raven glared. "I don't watch TV so much. I have better things to do." He defended.

"Like play with dolls, bastard?" Naruto smirked at his friend.

"Action figures. They're action figures, idiot." Sasuke whispered. He waved Shikamaru over without looking.

Shikamaru came by lazily. Sasuke smiled. "Do you think my toys are lame, Shika?"

The boy glanced at Sasuke. "Are you talking about the dolls?"

That earned a boisterous laugh from Naruto. "Shhh." Sasuke commanded.

"Why are we whispering?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. It's such a drag."

Sasuke smiled mischievously. After making sure his brother, Itachi, who was in charge of him, was a distance away, he turned back to his friends. "Because I have to tell you guys something."

"-"

"-"

"-"

"What Sasuke, God!" Naruto whisper-yelled. He hated the game Sasuke played at times. He paused for the longest effect just to make sure his friends were listening.

"Oh. Sorry. Well. I saw Itachi kissing someone yesterday."

"-"

"-"

Sasuke smiled, assuming his friends were speechless because Itachi had emotion. "I know right?" He squealed. Itachi, Shikaku, and Minato looked over at them. "Sorry." He mumbled.

Naruto sweatdropped. "You brought us here to tell us that Itachi kissed someone?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Not just anyone. It was a boy. Well, it looked like a girl. Like Naruto without whiskers and longer hair. It had a boy voice though."

Shikamaru nodded and smirked. They had always loved to tease Naruto like this. "Oh. I know who you're talking about. That girl-boy thing."

"That's my cousin, Deidara, you assholes." Naruto yelled.

The boys laughed. They really loved teasing Naruto by pretending to not know who his girlish cousin was.

"And that's not all." Sasuke said. "Deidara was topping my brother…."

Naruto blocked out the rest of what his friends when he noticed a girl being pushed around by two boys.

Without thinking like he would usually, Naruto ran with all his speed, immediately clashing with one boy, making him fall to the ground. He turned to the other bully and punched him in the nose.

Shikamaru and Sasuke were over in less than a second, ready to defend Naruto if needed be. As Naruto picked up the girl off the ground, his two friends stood protectively behind him.

The girl flinched. "Hey, hey, hey. You're alright. They're done with whatever they were doing." Naruto assured her, making her relax a bit.

She looked up at him. He gasped a bit. The girl's eye were a greyish purple. This wasn't what surprised him, for he'd seen many people with such an iris. Except, they had pupils. The girl couldn't have been blind. She was staring directly at him.

"That is why they were bullying you? Your eyes, I mean?" Naruto asked after a moment of staring. He tried the compose the blush that was creeping in.

The girl looked down. "Yes. It's a family trait and sometimes, it isn't appealing to others."

Naruto lifted her head and smiled. "Well, I think it's really damn awesome."

Sasuke nodded behind when the bullies ran away. "Yeah. It looks cool."

Shikamaru nodded. "I know it'll be so damn troublesome to ask, but do you want to join our friend group?"

The girl smiled and shyly nodded as Naruto grabbed her hand.

"Hinata" A cold voice said.

Everyone turned to see a taller masculine version of Hinata. "Father." the girl said.

The man's pupiless eyes turned to venom. "Let us go home. Now."

Hinata immediately ran to her father. There was a small limp in her leg, and Naruto took the time to wonder if she had gotten it from the bullies or her own father. He chose the latter when the man grabbed his daughter's arm harshly.

"We'll see you in school, Hinata!" Naruto yelled. The girl turned and smiled as her father pulled her along.

When they were out of sight, Naruto addressed his friends. "Are you guys coming to the same conclusion as me."

"I hope so. I don't want to be the only one who saw it." Sasuke said.

"What do you guys think?" Naruto asked.

After a moment of silence Shikamaru sighed, for once in his life not looking so bored. "I think we all know it's going to hurt to say it aloud. I'll just say we all know where the bruises are really coming from. And I think that we all think that it's not a bully our age"

Naruto and Sasuke nodded. They wouldn't find out until their second year of school. But when they did see her with bruises and no one else around, the three geniuses were not surprised when Hyuuga Hinata revealed that she was being abused by her father.

(Flashback end)

Naruto sighed. It had stopped raining over twenty minutes ago. The ground was drying. Hinata's tears weren't.

"Hinata." Naruto sighed as he looked at the beautiful girl. "How long will you let him do this?"

The girl refused to answer.

"He's not the only one hurting you. You're hurting yourself."

"-"

It would go on like this as an endless cycle. The Namikaze would ask her questions she refused to answer. Say things she refused to admit. Over the course of twelve years, Hinata had changed.

She wasn't shy anymore, just outspoken. In school, she skipped a few classes just to play that damn guitar that never left her side.

If this were a different situation, Naruto would have smiled at how far he and his friends had gotten. Konoha high school almost seemed like it was run by them.

Shikamaru was the brain. He was not only valedictorian, but president of student council as well. Shika was only lazy around his friends, but he was a genius when the time came. After graduating at twenty one, he was going to become the president's advisor or a detective.

Sasuke was the Businessman. He was destined, as an Uchiha, to run a company when he got older. That was what others saw. Like his friends, Sasuke was the president of business and management club. However, only Naruto, Shikamaru, and Hinata knew what the raven really wanted to be. Sasuke wanted to be an officer so that he could protect people when he was old enough. People like Hinata.

Naruto was the jock and the strength. He could easily take on five men at once, due to his father's defense training. He was also the football captain and basketball captain. Anytime his friends were picked on, as the most known teen in Konoha, he made sure to make the perpetrators life a living hell. Naruto was also the glue. They were an odd bunch, a jock, uptight ass, music geek, and nerd, but he kept them together and made sure everyone knew that they were his second family.

Hinata was the art of the group. She was the president of music club and the art club. Her fingers on her guitar, given to her by Deidara, were effortless. She played like an angel. Everyday, their small group would go out and have lunch under the bleachers for the convenience of avoiding Naruto and Sasuke's fangirls. She would play every song for them.

It was going to be 4 more years before they had graduated. But looking at his friend, who he had fallen in love with when they turned 12, Naruto couldn't wait anymore.

About three years ago, Naruto was in distress because he knew Hinata was going to get away from Hiashi dead or broken. Shikamaru did research and Sasuke found tools. They had made the most perfect most passive way to get Hinata away.

"You have to leave him Hinata." Naruto urged.

"I don't know where to go. If I go to your house, he'll find me. I'm strong Naruto. I can handle this for four more years." She whispered.

Naruto attempted to light the mood. "I'll tell you what" He said as he pulled out a box. "You play that guitar of yours and I'll give you your favorite food, cinnamon rolls."

Hinata smiled, forgetting about her father. "Deal."

Naruto watched his friends mouth and listened to every word and every line. As she sung her favorite, Echo by Trapt, Naruto realized how ironic the world was.

"Close my eyes/ Let the whole thing pass me."

Naruto wanted to tell Hinata that she did let the whole thing pass her by. But her yes weren't closed. No, she saw every unexplainable thing Hiashi did to her. Everything he hit her with. The words he said. But, she wouldn't acknowledge them, like some kind of bystander.

"There is no time/ to waste asking why."

Naruto never understood why he kept asking why Hinata would stay. He knew already. Sasuke knew, Shikamaru knew, hell even Hinata knew. She said so herself. It was her fault that her mother died giving birth to her. She needed to help her father with his 'sickness.' Sasuke said it how it was, it was hatred.

"I'll run away with you by my side/ I'll run away with you by my side."

'Would you really?' Naruto asked his love within his head. As if hearing his thoughts, she girl turned and smiled at Naruto. He wondered again if the girl would really run away with him.

"I need to let, go, let go, let go, let go of this pride."

She really did, Naruto thought. She wasn't strong enough to take the hits alone. She said she was, but Naruto saw right through her pain like he saw right through her eyes.

Hinata sang a few more lines that Naruto couldn't register because he was too busy looking at her and thinking about her.

For him, it was all about her. He missed team practices to take Hinata to a private doctor his father knew. He would quit basketball just to be with her.

The song fit her, he thought. 'She's a goddamn echo, repeating this same damn cycle and ringing in my ears, oblivious to everything and everyone else, but the sound she creates.'

Naruto clenched his fist. He was going to save Hinata from this mess.

NH

It had been three weeks since Naruto found Hinata. After talking to Sasuke and Shikamaru, he decided the plan should go into action as soon as summer started. And the time had come.

Shikamaru had found a school of arts more than an hour away from Konoha. The arts school not only had music for Hinata, but also the top basketball and football teams in the country.

Naruto, the man who would be giving up his dreams and fame in Konoha High, would not be giving up his dreams forever. Of course, he had no problem with that. He would become a street sweeper just for Hinata to follow her dreams and get away from Hiashi.

He was currently in the Uchiha mansion. He, Shikamaru, and Hinata were the only ones welcomed in. Minato was the head of the country and Fugaku's best friend, Shikaku was on the council with Fugaku, and Mikoto grew a huge liking to Hinata and her music. Plus, they were all Sasuke's best friends.

"This baby should run forever. It's enough to get away for a while." Itachi told Naruto as he ran a hand over the beautiful truck. It should get them out of the city and into the next town.

Minato provided the money for Naruto to live through however long He and Hinata were staying in school. Itachi and Deidara provided Naruto with the truck. Sasuke made sure the school would accept 17 year olds.

Naruto smiled as his cousin gave him a hug with teary eyes. "Look at you being a hero" Deidara said. His eyes filled with even more tears.

Naruto sighed softly. He and Deidara were the only kids in the Namikaze family, so they were super close when growing up. "Dei" h said.

The older man shook his head and wiped a few tears. "I know, I know. It's the only way to keep Hinata safe. But, I won't get to see you graduate. I can't believe they actually have an advanced art school. I'm going to miss you so much."

Naruto smiled as he was crushed again. "I love you, Dei."

"I know. I love you too."

"Are you ready, Naruto?" Everyone turned to the voice of the goddess who walked in with Sasuke and Shikamaru. Hinata smiled at her savior. And in that moment, Naruto was so relieved that Hinata didn't protest when he told her about the plan.

(Flashback)

Naruto and Hinata were running in the direction of his house. Well, he was running and Hinata was practically being dragged. "Can you atleast stop and tell me what's going on?" She asked.

Naruto was looking around frantically. "There's no time." He said hotly.

Hinata pulled away harshly. "Make time" She hissed. Naruto was ideally shocked. It seemed that being abused was taking a toll on her sweet personality. After looking at her friend she put her head down. "I'm sorry." She mumbled. "Whatever thing you have in mind, I'd like to know."

Naruto nodded. "Of course. I'm sorry. Just don't want your crazy ass father coming out and dragging you back. We found a way, Hina?"

"A way?" She turned her head in a way that made Naruto weak in the knees.

"A way to get you out of there. Check this out." Naruto pulled out a flyer and handed it to his friend. "It's an arts school. The best arts and athletic school in our country. I'm taking you to audition with the guitar.

If you get in, then we can live there together. Whether you like it or not."

Hinata's eyes filled with tears. "What about your basketball scholarship here. You wanted it so you wouldn't have to pay for school."

"I know. This school is the best though. We're allowed to get in early. Jiraiya, my uncle, owns a shop down there. Said I can work to pay for yours and my tuitions. This isn't about me anymore."

"You would seriously give up everything just to get me away from my father and for me to follow my dreams."

Naruto pushed Hinata's hair from her pupiless eyes. "I didn't. But if I had to, I would. Because…." He stared at her for a moment. "You're my echo, Hinata. I,uh, I…. Love you."

Hinata giggled as she hugged Naruto. "I know. I knew all along." She whispered.

(Flashback end)

"I am super ready, echo." A new name he called her. Her guitar was strapped to her back.

"For a new life?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto shook his head. "Hell no. A new chapter. He helped Hinata with her bags and opened the car door for her. "Wish us luck." He climbed into the truck.

"As the president's son, I don't think you need it." Itachi said.

Naruto leaned back in the chair as Hinata gave the other boys a thumbs up. Sasuke came over to his window. "You better be a famous ball player and Hinata better be the world's greatest classical guitarist."

[AN: If you guys are wondering, Konoha School of Arts accepts Advanced Students early. Naruto already talked to their high school administrators. As the president's son, he was allowed to go to keep hinata safe. It is an advanced school. That way, Hinata didn't have to wait until she was 21 to graduate.]

Naruto smiled at him. "We'll miss you too, teme."

"Hn."

Naruto waved at everyone, his fears and nerves attempting to calm. This was it. "We'll see you guys. Bye." And with that, he drove off. Hinata laid her head against the window.

"Hey, Hinata. I know you'll get the audition. But, when you do, do you want to….you know…"

"Yes I will go out with you sometime, Naru. Can we listen to some music?"

Naruto, without nodding, turned on the radio, almost laughing at the song that blared through the truck.

I think about your face

And how I fall into your eyes

The outline that I trace

Around the one that I call mine

Time that called for space

Unclear where you drew the line

I don't need to solve this case

And I don't need to look behind

The goddesses' eyes fluttered.

"You can sleep, Echo. Everything gets better from here."

Hinata smiled and closed her eyes. "Thank you, Naruto."

NH

Did you guys like the first chap? Well there are two more so get ready. Woo. Naruto and Hinata. Woo. Minor DeiIta. Woo. Sasuke and Naruto friendship. Woo. Shikamaru laziness. Woo. Kyuubi, Kushina, Minato, and Itachi making an appearance.

Guys, Not to be confused

Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Hinata were five when they all met.

They've been friends for 12 years making them 17 currently.

They Attend Konoha HS which requires them to graduate at the age of 21. That's why Hinata says four more years to be on her own.

And No, Hanabi is not in this universe.