This is my first story. Okay, so I know OCs are not very popular and I was hesitant to even post this but I thought, why not? and gave it a go. Now, first let me explain. I like Naruto as a character but I think if he had some influence from a guardian at a younger age, he would improve my leaps and bounds. I wanted to prove that even just having a civilian with him as guidance would be enough. Also, civilians are more or less ignored throughout Naruto and I thought it would be interesting to give an insight on how they felt and what they do. So here's the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters whatsoever but OCs are my own.

Misaki watched the scene with something akin to shock. She knew that it was wrong; she screamed mentally for someone to do something, anything. However, she herself could not move and she could only watch helplessly as one young Naruto Uzumaki was being yelled and beaten at. Tears prickled her eyes and her heart clenched with pain from the injustice of it all.

Even then, she did nothing. She only had to glance at the other villagers around her to know that she would be treated with the same despairing injustices from the others if she did anything. Perhaps that was what kept her rooted firmly where she was, unable to move. It was the fear of being treated as an outcast. She desperately blocked out the pained cries and yelps of the younger boy and averted her eyes.

Misaki had always thought of herself as immune to the people around her. Now, she knew just how weak she was; how she was influenced by the people around her like a puppet on strings. Misaki was shaken out of her thoughts by ninjas with strange masks who had dispersed the crowd easily. She breathed a sigh of relief and keeping her head down, she left, only taking one glance back to see the young Uzumaki being carried by a older shinobi with silver coloured hair.

As she walked the path home to gather her thoughts, she was immediately filled with a sense of shame and self-loathing. What would have happened if she had stepped in? She couldn't have done anything anyway, she lamented. However, the devil in her mind whispered, 'Couldn't or wouldn't?"

Even when she had reached her apartment and was in her bed, it plagued her mind and she wasn't able to fall asleep. Even when she tried to reassure herself that it wasn't her fault; that she couldn't have done anything anyway, she was still filled with doubts about herself.

Naruto Uzumaki.

Misaki didn't know anything about him except that he had done something which had incurred the wrath of the civilians of Konoha. He was also the resident village prankster. However, he was a young boy, surely he wouldn't be blamed so much that he would be beaten? So why was he being belittled and scorned? Why was he being mistreated? Why wouldn't anyone help him? Why didn't she? Misaki hated herself. She didn't understand anything. She had so many questions and no answers. It frustrated her; how she knew absolutely nothing. Finally, after all her long musings and wonderings, she was able to fall asleep.

"Are you even listening to me?" a voice made her blink out of her stupor. She looked up at the woman who her closest friend, her hands were on her hips and her eyes narrowed at Misaki.

"Sorry," Misaki mumbled, "Didn't hear a word you said."

"What's wrong?" Akiko, her best friend, asked with a concerned voice.

"Nothing, I just didn't get enough sleep." she yawned at that exact moment to prove her point.

"Why?" Akiko crossed her arms. Before Misaki could even reply, she began to rant about the importance of sleep and why she needed to get sleep. Misaki just smiled at her friend. She had no idea how she had become friends with a bubbly and cheerful girl like Akiko when Misaki was more pessimistic and quiet. However, she was grateful, Akiko's was always chatting and she liked to listen to her talks about how her life was and what she'd been up to. It made things more lively. Misaki looked at her watch.

"It's time for me to go now," Misaki told her friend, "Need to go straight to work."

After waving good bye, Misaki went straight to the library. She enjoyed her job as the librarian of Konoha's biggest library. It gave her a comfortable salary and she loved to surround herself with books. She could also meet different people and just take time having small chats with them. All in all, Misaki concluded she was quite content with her life, as she went out for a lunch break.

That was until she witnessed the horrible scene. She wished she could delete it our of her memory somehow but she couldn't. She just wondered and pondered and thought about it until her brain felt like it could explode. Misaki sighed.

It felt like the times when she came upon something she wasn't used to or even just when she had to decide something. Misaki just altered the events in her brain; thought up what would have happened if she did something and what would happen if she didn't, weigh the two up and then decide. That was the reason why she wasn't really a social person. She was stuck too much in her head and she always thought carefully about what she wanted to say before saying it. Since she can't be bothered always thinking about things like this, she just stayed quiet. Simple.

Well, not really. There were times when she was frustrated with herself because of her quiet ways and these were one of those moments. She wasn't one to do whatever she wanted and she always regretted, leading to more complex thoughts about reversing time and changing whatever had happened.

Misaki sighed again, trying to shake her head out of all her thoughts and just not think for once. She lead herself to a park where she sat on one of the more newer benches. After she settled with her bento and was about to eat, she heard a disturbance in the area and turned, only to find one Uzumaki Naruto defending a young violet haired girl from a pair of young boys. Bullies.

Misaki watched as they left the poor young girl alone after being threatened with a stick by the Uzumaki and run off. Serves them right. She smiled as Naruto helped the girl on her feet. He was such a gentleman. Afterwards, the young girl was called by an older man with the same violet hair and as she was able to see clearer, the same white, pupil-less eyes, leaving Naruto by himself, waving the girl goodbye

She looked down at herself and she was ashamed. Naruto, a young boy, did what he could do to help another person. He didn't even ask for anything in return, nor did he seem to be angry at the villagers or anyone. Misaki couldn't, or rather, didn't do anything to help him. 'How?' she wanted to ask. 'How are you able to bear that burden?'

She contemplated going up to him, but she didn't know what to say and what she would do. Finally, she resolved herself but it was too late, he was gone and she felt like a hapless idiot for not taking the chance earlier.

Three days passed before Misaki saw Naruto again. The day had been busy at the library, sorting and finding books for children from various civilian schools who had come to visit and Misaki was tired. She wasn't exactly good at dealing with kids; that was Akiko's forte, who was a teacher. Nevertheless, the prospect of sleep was welcoming to her, even if it was only three in afternoon.

That was until she saw Naruto sitting on the same bench she always sat on for her lunch at the park. She froze. Before the situation with Naruto and the other villagers, she hadn't even noticed Naruto around Konoha much. However, after that, she began to realise that they went to the same park and that Naruto was always around; she just never noticed.

He looked depressed, unlike his usual bright and cheerful self, curled up in a ball. Before she knew what she was doing, she went to sit on the same bench. Naruto looked up in surprise at her, but didn't say anything. Neither did she. They just sat there for a couple of minutes before Naruto finally asked a question.

"What are you doing here?"

Misaki raised an eyebrow, "What, I can't sit here?"

Naruto shook his head, "No, just why are sitting on this bench? There are many others."

"It's my favourite one. I always sit here."

"Then do you want me to move?"

"No."

There was a few more moments of silence.

"Why are you so depressed on this fine day?" Misaki asked gently.

Naruto turned to look at her, "Is it that obvious?"

She snorted, "Anyone would be able to tell."

He hesitated, "I- I failed by ninja exam today."

Ah. The academy had held its exams today. She wouldn't have known if it wasn't for Akiko and her rantings about her brother wanting to become one despite being a civilian.

"So? Why don't you try again?"

"This was my second time," Naruto hugged his knees, "And I failed again."

"And are you going to give up?"

"No! I'm not!" he looked at Misaki fiercely. She grinned.

"Look, I wanted to become a ninja once too." He looked at her in surprise, she nodded, "But I found it wasn't for me so I changed my mind and wanted to become a doctor. I realised that I didn't want to be in a hospital all day either so I changed my mind again and now I'm a librarian. I'm not saying you have to quit being a ninja or anything but don't you ever give up. Do what you want to do."

Misaki didn't know why she had just spilled about her life like that but she thought that some encouragement might work.

"A librarian?" Naruto scrunched his nose, "Isn't that boring?"

"Hey, that's an insult to my work!" Naruto thought she would whack him right there and then but all she did was laugh.

"Why don't I read you a story?" Misaki reached into her bag to grab a book that she had borrowed from the library that day.

Naruto showed uncertainty, "I don't know.."

"Well, I know, and you're going to listen, so get comfortable."

Naruto reluctantly nodded his head.

"The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja…"

"Wow! That was awesome!" he shouts enthusiastically, "Look, the main character was called Naruto as well!" he quietened down, "Oh yeah, my name's Naruto Uzumaki."

Misaki coughed, her throat sore from all the reading but looked at him in amusement, "I know. I'm Misaki. Misaki Yuzuwasa.

He looked at her quizzically, "You knew who I was?"

"Well, no one here in the village stands out quite as much." She pointed at his orange jumpsuit.

"So you knew," he muttered, "Why did you sit next to me and read me this book? Most people don't like me." He looked lonely at that moment, vulnerable. Misaki's heart went out to the poor boy.

"I felt like it." she said it so simply that it made Naruto's eyes sting with tears. He wiped the tears before Misaki noticed.

"So you did like the book?" Misaki asked slyly, "See? Books are great fun."

He nodded and grinned but frowned after a moment, "Wait, but I didn't understand. What was the 'curse' the ninja was talking about?"

Misaki looked thoughtfully for a way to explain it all, "Well, I believe it's about the cycle of war, hatred and conflict in the world."

Naruto still didn't understand and his look was one of confusion.

"Hm.. How about this? Let's say I killed one of your friends. What would you do?"

"I'll definitely take my revenge!"

"Right? So you killed me, but I also have a brother. What do you think he would do to you?"

"He'll try to take revenge for you.." he looked thoughtful, "I think I understand."

Misaki nodded sagely, "It's like a never ending cycle. To say something like, 'I'll break the curse!" is very admirable and all but it'll take a lot of work to truly stop the hatred and war between people." She can hardly believe that she's talking to a ten year old about wars and conflicts but if he wanted to become a ninja, he needed to know.

To her surprise, Naruto stood on the bench, "I'll definitely break the curse." he shouted out, "Believe it!"

Misaki chuckled, "First, you have to become a good shinobi."

He jumped down from the bench, "I'l become hokage one day, and when I do, I'll fight this curse head on."

"I'll look forward to that day."

Misaki looked at her watch, it was already 7 o'clock! She had lost track of time reading and talking to the young Uzumaki.

"It's time for me to go home now. It was nice meeting you, Naruto." she smiled kindly.

"Yeah, it was good fun, Yuzuwasa-san. Will I see you again?" he asked hopefully.

Her eyes softened, "Of course. You better be here tomorrow or I'll go and hunt you down myself." He brightened up considerably and waved good by, before running off to his own apartment. She shook her head, where does he get all that energy from?

Misaki went back to her apartment in a more happier mood.

A month passed by in a flash. Every single day, Misaki would go to the same bench at the same park where she would meet with Naruto. On the days that she didn't read him stories, they would just talk about their lives. Misaki discovered the many pranks that Naruto had done to various people, hokage included. His stories were always hilarious and they always ended up giggling at the end. After learning more about Naruto, Misaki could hardly understand why everyone hated him. There was a point during the time where meeting with Naruto had become the highlight of the day.

One day, they were talking about food and Naruto was explaining to Misaki how he usually only ever ate ramen. Misaki looked horrified.

"You're not going to get the nutrition you need if you only eat ramen, Naruto."

"But it's delicious." he whined.

She changed tactics, "Don't you want to become stronger and healthier?"

Naruto gave it a thought, "Ramen gives me strength and energy."

"No it doesn't." she crossed her arms, "I'm surprised that you're alive considering your diet. No wonder why you're so short."

"Hey, I'm not short!"

"You so are."

"No, I'm not!"

"When I was you age, I was like, 10 centimetres taller than you are now." Misaki knew that it was because girls naturally developed earlier than boys but Naruto didn't need to know that.

He paused, "I don't have any other food than ramen."

Misaki considered that for a moment, "Come to my place for dinner tonight."

"Really?"

Misaki gave him a look, "I'm offering so yes, really."

"Okay then." Naruto had hardly tried any other food than ramen and he was anxious to try new food. Misaki stopped for a moment and Naruto looked up to see what was wrong.

She hadn't seen at first because it had become dark but a group of drunk men were coming towards them. They stunk with the stench of alcohol. Misaki flinched at their intense glares but realised immediately they were aimed at the young boy besides her. She was going to dread this encounter and she only wanted to shrink back into the background.

It seemed that Naruto could tell how afraid she was because he went in front of her to block her from them. She looked down at her feet, hoping they would pass peacefully but of course, it did not happen that way.

"Who do you have behind you, demon brat?" one of the drunken men spoke.

"You don't need to know." Naruto glared at them viciously.

"Why, look at him, being all brave. You brat, I'll have you beaten to a bloody pulp."

It was getting dangerous. Naruto groaned. Why did this have to happen when he was with Misaki?She would never read her stories or talk to him ever again. Why did this have to happen to him? He mouthed 'run' to Misaki but she paid no heed to him.

Misaki clenched her fists. Would she be powerless again and stand aside doing nothing? Would she run away? No, she was just tired of it all now; tired of the feeling of helplessness that welled inside her. She knew Naruto enough to know that he didn't deserve all this hatred he received from the villagers. She would not witness Naruto Uzumaki ever be disrespected or beaten in front of her ever again. She didn't even have to think about this, she only did what she had to do.

Misaki stepped in front of Naruto, making sure that he was behind her, "Step away."

They scoffed at her but that only fuelled the fire in her.

She faked a mask, "Gentlemen, I think you best be on your way. It'll do no good for you to hurt me or him."

"Why is that?" he sneered.

"It's obvious." she countered, "Is it not illegal to hurt a civilian? I wonder what the hokage has to say about this."

"That thing is no civilian." he glared at Naruto which made him wince. She glared at the man.

"On the contrary, he has a home in Konoha. You're overstepping your boundaries. You don't have a right to be a civilian of Konoha."

"You're too young to understand.."

"Actually, you're apparently too old to process what I'm trying to say." She formed a forced smile, "You better fuck off before I hand you to the Hokage. Don't you have any shame? What would your mother think? Your relatives? How about your family? Don't you have any pride, picking on a boy that would be the same age as your son? I don't think they would be especially proud to know about this. So step away, let this go, and go on your merry way." she paused for a moment to breath before adding, "And if you ever try to harm Naruto again, I will hunt you down and remove you from this world, understand?"

The men only listened to Misaki's talk and didn't even bother questioning her last statement. They only muttered and left, hopefully thinking about their actions. Finally, after all that excitement, she breathed a sigh of relief. Misaki replayed her speech and her cheeks burned with embarrassment. She hadn't meant to be so aggressive but she had been carried away after speaking about her thoughts.

"You were so cool!" Naruto told her as they were walking to her apartment.

Misaki rolled her eyes, "No, I wasn't. I got a little carried away…Did I say that I was going to hunt them down? Oh wow, that has got to be the most embarrassing thing I have ever said in my entire life…" she muttered to herself. Misaki could have definitely worded her speech more cleverly. She was lost in her thoughts about what she could have done to seem even more cooler, and what would have happened if she had just played polite all the way through. However, she saw Naruto's grin and his brightest smile yet. She smiled in return. Whatever. She didn't regret a single thing.

Dinner was easily the most enjoyable time of the day. After some dubious looks from Naruto towards the vegetables, he tried them and decided that he rather liked its crunchy taste and ate his entire stir fry without leaving a lick of food left. They proceeded to talk about the most random of topics. Time flew by and Naruto went back home, leaving Misaki with her thoughts.

All in all, Misaki was content.

Finished! If you have any ideas, tell me what you think. Now, straight onto Naruto's POV and the academy!