Well, hello there. It's me again...for the third time. Ahem...yeah.

So first off, I want to apologize for anyone that might be in the middle of reading my story only to discover that I took down all of the chapters lol. Yeah, my bad. But I'm working on it. Most of the time.

So, if you haven't heard the word, I'm rewriting all of my stories, and I am very slowly (but surely) making progress. I tend to go back through my stories way in and then decide that I want to change something and then end up going back, which is really hard to do sometimes. The reason why I don't want to update before I finish the story is for this reason. And to avoid things such as resubmitting a story three times because you keep changing it up. Yeah.

So I've made significant changes to the storyline, even more than before. If you dare read it again, for those of you that have already gone through it, you'll notice those changes. These are to accommodate for the changes I made in the sequel. So, see? I have been working on my stories, it's just taken a long time to go back through. I really didn't want to go back and rewrite this one, but it wouldn't make any sense in the sequel if I didn't. I promise this one is better (I think). You understand, right? Right. I also get very distracted, so excuse me for that.

So, I'm done talking for now. Carry on.

Kaiya stared at the rows of future ninjas in front of her. She nervously waited as the instructor finally walked in, a few minutes before class was scheduled to begin. He smiled welcomingly at her, and she shyly smiled back, but it didn't ease her anxiety any. He didn't have a chance to say anything to her, because at that moment, a young blonde boy walked through the doors of the classroom, frowning at the students as they glared at him relentlessly. She watched him quietly sit down at the bottom row as whispers filled the room: "There he is again." "Aw man, not that freak. Shouldn't he have dropped out by now? It's obvious he'll never be a ninja." "My parents told me to stay away from him." "They say he's a monster." "He has no family, ya know."

Kaiya looked up at the teacher to see if he would stop their gossip, but he only ignored their hateful words as he rustled through some files on his desk. She knew that if she, an eight-year-old child, could hear them, then he definitely could. She could even see the look of discomfort on his face. She bowed her head in disappointment.

Kaiya knew how much it stung to hear people say those words; she knew what it was like to be an outcast. But what made her feel even worse was the fact that the teacher did nothing to help the blonde. All of a sudden she wanted to run home and never come back to the Academy. She started to turn toward the door, when the teacher rested his large hand on her small shoulder.

"Quiet down, class," he ordered in a calm voice. Why didn't he get on to the class for saying such mean things about their classmate? Who was that boy? After a few seconds, the whispers died down and everyone rested their eyes on their teacher, as well as Kaiya. She averted her own eyes to the floor timidly. "If you haven't already noticed, we have a new student today." He turned from the others to look down at Kaiya. "My name is Iruka Umino; I'm your Academy teacher. Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?" Kaiya rested her eyes on the blonde kid, and he looked back with curious, cerulean pupils.

"My name is Kaiya Umachi," she told them. Some of the children shared confused looks. One child on the top row, a boy, raised his hand.

"Sorry, but isn't the Umachi clan dead?" he wondered. Kaiya's eyes widened, then lowered. Iruka frowned.

"Shino, there's no need to ask an insensitive question like that," he scolded. Kaiya shook her head, raising it once again.

"My family was the last of the Umachi clan." She clenched her small fists. "But two years ago, I lost them all. Now I'm the last member." Everyone stared at her in silence. The dark pupils of a raven-haired boy widened only slightly, his attention now completely on her. "I don't know who killed them, but one day I'll be Hokage and find him." Iruka's pupils dilated as the class's whispers echoed throughout the room again. Sweat dripped down his brow.

Kakashi told me she wouldn't— "But that's not the only reason I want to be the Hokage. I want to be a famous ninja like my father was. I want to make him proud by carrying on the good name of our clan, even if I'm the last one in it." She gave a smile and a thumbs up as she kept her eyes locked on the blonde, who coyly turned away. Iruka forced a grin. I guess Kakashi was right in the end, he thought. His confidence in her wasn't just a pretension after all. He knows her by now. It has been two years since the attack.

"Well, that was a nice introduction, Kaiya," he told her, once he'd gained his composure. "Your father was a good man and a very famous ninja indeed. He'd be proud of you wanting to follow in his footsteps. How about you sit in the middle row, between Kioko and Sasuke?" He directed her to her seat, in-between two mellow-looking children her age. In fact, the male even looked annoyed. Kaiya's eyes lowered. He looks just like…

The girl on her right, Kioko, had short, silky black hair to her shoulders and short bangs that reached eye-length. She had beautiful, silver eyes that seemed depthless and mysterious. It made Kaiya wonder what she was thinking. She didn't even seem to notice that she existed, as she stared down at their sensei intently.

"Now," Iruka said, letting out a sigh of relief, "let's review chakra control so that Kaiya can catch up…"

When it was lunchtime, all the kids shuffled out the door and onto the playground, grabbing trays of food and sack lunches on their way out. Kaiya didn't feel all that hungry, so she just followed the blonde boy with the whiskers as he separated himself from the other students and sat on a rickety swing. Kaiya looked back at the twenty-plus children who were laughing and eating together on the playground. Feeling a connection when she and the blonde looked each other in the eye, Kaiya knew she had to meet him, despite what the others might think or say.

Approaching him slowly, Kaiya sat down in the dirt next to him, smiling compassionately. "Hi," she greeted quietly. She hadn't met too many people her age, especially not in a while, so she wasn't sure how to go about the situation. "What's your name?" Surprised and a bit perturbed, he turned his attention to her slowly.

"N-Naruto Uzumaki." Kaiya grinned at his answer.

"Naruto, like ramen?" she questioned. "I love ramen! Kakashi says I'm obsessed with it." The blonde's eyes narrowed in confusion. He put his guard up, just in case.

"Go away," he demanded sadly. Kaiya's smile faded slowly.

"Huh?"

"You're new, so I guess you don't know." Naruto's eyes were filled with sadness, confusion, and hopelessness. Kaiya recognized that they were the same emotions in her eyes too. "Everyone in the village hates me. You'll hate me just like them, eventually. And if you don't leave me alone, they'll all hate you too." He looked back down at the ground. Kaiya tilted her head in question, pursing her lips.

"Why do they hate you?" she wondered.

"I don't know. They say…they say I'm a monster."

Kaiya's hands trembled as she remembered being called the exact same thing; she could never understand the reason for it, but she knew they were all wrong. She wasn't a monster…and neither was Naruto. "I don't care what everyone else thinks," she assured him. "I just met you, and I already like you. And your whiskers." Kaiya smirked, and a smile rose on Naruto's face as well. "If no one but you likes me, then that's enough. I'll prove to them you're not a monster." And neither am I.

"Where'd you come from?" Naruto asked, facing her again. She looked down at a patch of grass in front of her.

"I was born here, but I've been doing a lot of traveling for the past two years. I just moved back home a few weeks ago, and the Hokage told me I had to join the Academy if I wanted to become a real ninja." She pouted at the thought, remembering how persistent he was during the process of her returning to the village for good. For an eight-year-old girl who had gotten used to doing her own thing, it was extremely annoying.

Neither one of them spoke for several minutes. After a while, Naruto couldn't stand the silence.

"You said you don't have a family anymore," he remembered. "Why don't you know who killed them?" Kaiya's shoulders shook, despite her will to stop them. It was a touchy subject (as for anyone who's had family members murdered), but she felt obligated to tell this boy her story, because she felt that in some way they shared the same pain of loneliness and shame. She could see it in his eyes. The same pain reflected in his pupils was evident in her own.

"I don't know who he was, or even his name," she admitted. "I never saw his face or heard his voice. The Hokage and my guardians won't tell me, but I think that they know. Two years ago, before I left the village on my first trip, my family was attacked: my parents, my brother, and my two sisters. I wasn't home when it happened, or else I'd probably be dead too. I found my father dead that night and the rest of them gone. The others were never found." Naruto's pupils dilated.

"That sucks." He lowered his gaze, then asked, "How do you know the others are dead?" Kaiya wondered the same thing all the time; she hoped and prayed every day that by some miracle, they were still out there, alive.

"Then why wouldn't they come home?" Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she couldn't help but sniffle. Naruto didn't know what to do, so he jumped out of the swing to sit next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"It's ok," he said, comforting her. "I'm an orphan too. I never even knew my parents." Kaiya looked up, having buried her face in her hands.

"Really?" she sobbed. He nodded.

"The Old Man has been taking care of me since I can remember. He's the only one who doesn't hate me." After a few moments of silence, he added, "That's why I'm going to become Hokage someday, so that I can show everyone…that I'm worth their time. I'm not a monster, I'm Naruto Uzumaki." Kaiya blinked, and Naruto chuckled. "Come to think of it, you want to be Hokage too, right?" Kaiya nodded. "Well, looks like we're going to have to battle each other to lead this village. We'll be rivals!" Kaiya grinned, shaking her head.

"No…we'll be friends." Naruto nodded, smiling determinedly.

"Hm. From now on, we're in a fight to see which one becomes Hokage first. Until then, we'll be friends." Kaiya nodded back.

"Ok."

When lunchtime was over, Kaiya and Naruto walked back to the classroom together. As the Academy ninjas shuffled back to their seats, they were fully aware of the two newly-made friends, and their gossip traveled through the line of students:

"Look at them…maybe she's a freak of nature too." "She's gonna get cooties if she gets too close." "She'll never graduate if she's that stupid."

Kaiya heard every one of them, but she didn't care. Naruto was special; she had recognized it as soon as he stepped through the doors. She knew he would prove everyone wrong someday. She knew it. He wasn't a monster like the villagers claimed. What he was, she couldn't quite figure out, but that didn't matter. Whatever it was about Naruto that drew Kaiya to him, she knew deep down in her heart it was good. He was going to be a hero, the future Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. After her, of course.

Kaiya returned to her seat between Kioko and Sasuke, who she had yet to talk to. Since they were going to be sitting by each other for a while, she decided to introduce herself formally to them. She turned to the girl first.

"Hi," Kaiya whispered. "You're Kioko, right?" The latter frowned, closing her eyes as she nodded stiffly.

"Yeah, so?"

"I just wanted to talk to you since we'll be sitting by each o—"

"Look, you're the new girl, so I'll give you a little advice: Nobody talks to me unless I talk to them first. Got it? And another thing—if you want any friends at all, you won't talk to that freak Naruto. If you do, they'll all hate you too." Kaiya blinked, lowering her head to look once more at the blonde sitting several rows below her. That was the exact same thing Naruto warned her about earlier. Why does everyone hate you, Naruto? She growled, crossing her arms.

"I would be glad not to talk to you," Kaiya muttered, before turning away. Kioko scoffed, going back to her moping. If she wanted to be like that, fine. Kaiya didn't want to waste her time with people like her. She turned to her left. "You're Sasuke, aren't you?" she asked, now looking at the dark, shadowy boy. He was somewhat irritated that she was talking to him, but he didn't look as cross as Kioko had only moments ago, probably because she didn't have hearts in her eyes like his usual fan girls.

"Mm," he replied, turning back to the paper Iruka had waiting for them on their desks. "Sasuke Uchiha." Kaiya lowered her head slightly; she knew he seemed familiar. There was no doubt about it now.

"Take care of my little brother, Kaiya."

"Your brother used to train me," she confessed solemnly. Sasuke's eyes drifted to her steadily. He studied her quietly, his dark eyes keeping any emotion hidden from her verdant pupils.

"Hn," he grunted. "That's impossible." Before Kaiya could convince him, Iruka cleared his throat.

He began to continue his lesson on chakra, but Kaiya only halfway listened, since she'd been caught up on everything she should've known by now; she had several teachers that made sure she understood the simplest of shinobi concepts—and chakra…chakra was the simplest of all. Does he think I'm stupid or something? Why is he starting all the way from the first steps of control? She sighed inwardly, following her teacher anyway. If I get marked down on participation and attentiveness, Kakashi will make me study it even more at home.

Kaiya knew what she had to do to get good grades in her class, so when she received her first report card six weeks later, she wasn't surprised with her results.

By that time, she had made a few good friends: Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame (even though he made her feel uncomfortable at times), and of course, Naruto. A few people had been avoiding her, like Kioko Saito, Ino Yamanaka, and Sakura Haruno; she figured it was most likely because she was the only one who socialized with Naruto. Others just didn't show any interest in her at all, like Sasuke Uchiha, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi; they seemed really passive, like they kept to themselves mostly.

Ino and her best friend, Kioko, didn't socialize with "freaks", and so they made it their mission to humiliate and/or frustrate Kaiya and Naruto. Their main target was Kaiya, simply because she had considered hanging out with such a loser in the first place; the main instigator was Kioko, who loved to pick on her because she never fought back.

"Hey, let me see your grades, Kaiya!" Kioko shouted, snatching the paper away from the said girl, who was attempting to fold it up and put it in her pocket. "Wow! These are really good! High marks in every class! Guys, Kaiya's a nerd!" The class burst out in laughter, save Kaiya's friends and the students who were apathetic toward her or her situation. Kaiya, feeling her cheeks flush in frustration, finally decided to retaliate.

"So what, Kioko?" she grumbled. "Sasuke's grades are better and no one makes fun of him. You're probably just jealous because yours are so low, but you could have them too ya know. Just stop drooling over Kiba and pay attention to Iruka-sensei, and you'll have perfect grades in no time!" She grabbed her report back before hiding behind Naruto, sticking out her tongue playfully. This time, the entire class burst into laughter, making Kioko turn red (She didn't want anyone to know she had a crush on Kiba, and denied it every time she was asked). Even the stoic Sasuke Uchiha had a small, almost unnoticeable smirk on his face. He was starting to consider the fact that Kaiya might not be entirely too bad of a classmate after all. She wasn't all over him, at least, and that was a good enough reason for him to believe that.

Kiba scratched his head, totally oblivious to the fact that Kioko liked him. But he decided to laugh anyway, because he enjoyed teasing others. Akamaru barked.

"Ha! You got told, Kioko!" Naruto added for unnecessary emphasis. He gave Kaiya a high-five, before Iruka came in and settled the class down.

"You've gotten your first report cards for the year," he announced, once everyone was quiet. "Some of you, like Sasuke, did very well. And then some of you," he said with less enthusiasm, "like Naruto," he muttered under his breath, "didn't do…well. So, I'm expecting you to raise your grades by the next term. Or else I'll have to take necessary actions to do it myself." He dismissed the class, and they hustled out. "Naruto," he called, after only he and Kaiya were left, "I need to speak with you for a moment…alone." Knowing he was in some kind of trouble, Naruto sighed and dropped his shoulders.

Kaiya frowned slightly as she turned toward the door to leave. When she paused, Naruto promised, "I'll catch up with you later, Kaiya." She nodded, but stood outside the door anyway. She listened as Iruka scolded Naruto for his lack of effort.

"It's not like I didn't expect this," he said, shaking his head. "Naruto, you've got to get it together or you won't graduate. This next session, we're actually going to start working with chakra; you've already had inadequate grades on this before. I don't want you to keep failing. I'm responsible for you, and I don't want this reflecting on me as a teacher." The blonde pouted. "You want to become a ninja, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Naruto shouted, as if Iruka was crazy. "I'm going to become Hokage!"

Rolling his eyes, Iruka replied, "Then I suggest you start acting like it. The Hokage is the strongest, hardest working, most important shinobi in the Fire Country. If you fail out of the Academy, you can't become the leader of the village. If you're having a hard time, ask for help." Kaiya could hear the disappointment in her friend's voice as he slumped in his desk.

"Nobody will even talk to me," he told his teacher. "How am I supposed to get help from them?" Kaiya lowered her head sadly.

"Naruto, don't be silly," Iruka assured him, trying to convince himself. "Kaiya talks to you, doesn't she?"

"Well…yeah."

"Well, there you go. She's never made fun of you or laughed when you made a mistake?" He shook his head. "So why can't she tutor you?" he wondered. "As for the others, the only reason they think you're different is because of what their parents have told them. But if you want to be acknowledged by the whole village and become the Hokage, you're going to have to show them the real Naruto Uzumaki and prove to them their presumptions are wrong."

"Ok." He didn't sound too convinced, though.

They talked for a few more minutes, and then Naruto was dismissed. "Remember what I said about your grades," Iruka reminded him, as he walked toward the door. Kaiya quickly ducked around the corner, slipping out the exit, where some other kids were standing. When Naruto came out, his face was stoic, but he didn't seem upset.

"So what was that about?" Kaiya wondered, taking her place beside him. "Did you get in trouble?" Naruto looked down.

"No. I just need to pick up my grades," was all he said. Kaiya didn't push him any further.

"Come on," Kaiya gestured, taking the blonde by the wrist. "We're going to get some ramen." Naruto blinked, his spirit slowly rising.

"But…I don't have any money," he pointed out in discontent. Kaiya waved him off, shaking her head.

"Who cares about that? Ringo and Tzu will treat us. You deserve it."

"I do?"

"Well, you didn't do as bad as you could have. That counts for something, right?" Naruto frowned, then smiled as he gave his friend a nod.

"Well, if you insist!" The two ran off together to eat the best ramen in the world. "I'm gonna win the competition this time!" Naruto shouted.

"Ha, as if! You can't even beat me there!"