Author's Note:

Well, it's about time, is all I can say.

I don't know of very many ff writers on here who haven't taken a shot at Naruto yet- guess it's time for me to continue the tradition ^^

Of course it's a Naruto/OC- I like happy people, why does no one ever find love for the happy people?!

I'm a total Narutard, but mainly for Shippuden though, and since this takes place back when everyone is still twelve, I may get a few insignificant facts wrong- please don't dwell on these flaws, they will be corrected (especially by my good pal Sibi-chan lol she knows more about Naruto then anyone I know)

So anyway, enjoy the story! And don't forget to review!

LOSGAP =D

Cold sunlight filtered through the leaves, spilling onto the forest floor; its muted golden light gently touched leaves, grass and the face of a young girl asleep under the trees.

Her face was framed by thick black hair coming to her chin, and was cut raggedly, as though she had done it herself.

She was skinny; her clothes hung off of her frail frame loosely, as though they were far too big for her. She couldn't have been older then twelve.

She did not stir as snow began to fall, drifting to the ground in large flakes and quietly coating the ground with frost. She didn't twitch or make an effort to wipe her face as snow landed on her cheeks and eyes, lightly dusting her face white.

Something crunched over the snow as the sun started its slow descent; something big, but light. The footsteps were muffled by snow as they steadily approached, unaware of the sleeping girl.

"…stupid Sasuke…" A young boy was muttering to himself. He crossed his arms, scowling at the ground, wanting to kick something. He shook his startlingly blonde head, frowning ahead.

He continued walking; his orange jumpsuit making him quite plain to anyone who would be on that path; but the only other soul nearby was asleep, unaware of his presence.

He tripped over her then; at first, he thought she was merely a snow covered log, but when he tripped and fell into the snow he looked back to see a frozen face.

His jaw dropped, shocked as he stared at her. For a moment he didn't know what to do; call for help? Run back to the village?

He shook his head; she was frozen solid by now, he had to get her someplace warm, and fast. He bent down and gently lifted her up, scooping his hands behind her knees, holding her on his back. Her cold arms hung limp over his chest; he shivered as her head fell against the back of his neck; she was so cold.

Barely conscious, she immediately responded to his warmth, curling herself around him and burrowing herself into him, seeking his heat. It made it quite difficult to run, though he pushed himself onwards. She was a tiny little thing, and really wasn't that much trouble.

He ran swiftly across the forest floor, his feet making little sound as he blew across the ground, careful not to jostle her too much.

OOO

"Got a bad case of hypothermia, sleeping in the cold like that." A woman said, putting her hands on her hips and frowning down at the sleeping girl on the bed before her. "She's lucky to have her limbs." She snorted.

"Is she going to be ok though?" Naruto Uzumaki demanded.

"She'll live, if that's what you mean." Lady Tsunade replied, brushing back a lock of blonde hair. "Can't say much else until she's awake." She replied.

"When will that be?" Naruto asked anxiously. The Hokage looked back at him and shrugged. "Not sure; on her own time, whenever her body can handle being awake, I guess." She replied. Naruto scowled at her; he had a feeling she was withholding information from him.

"You might as well go back to training with Kakashi, Naruto." Lady Tsunade told him. "It'll be a while before she comes to."

Naruto hesitated, glancing at the sleeping girl in the bed. There wasn't any point to stay when she was asleep, but he felt a little bad for just leaving her. "I'll send for you as soon as she wakes." Lady Tsunade promised him, seeing his hesitation.

"OK." He shrugged then, and trotted out of the room with barely a backwards glance; he had plenty of training to do, and it would distract him from the thought of the sleeping girl anyway.

OOO

"Naruto, where are you going?" Sakura demanded as Naruto, once again, tried to slip away unnoticed.

He grimaced as she glared at him, crossing her arms. He didn't want to say he was trying to get away to see a girl- what if Sakura got jealous or something?

As he debated whether to tell her or not, Sasuke spoke up.

"Let him go; we can get more done without him here anyway." He said. Sakura's cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink. "You want to practice alone together, Sasuke-kun?" She asked hopefully.

Naruto suddenly wondered if maybe he should stay.

"No." Sasuke said flatly. "I prefer to practice alone, and it's easier to practice without a certain orange interruption." He said and Naruto glared at him. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?!" He demanded.

Sasuke just snorted and walked off, leaving Naruto to glare after him, clenching his fists. One of these days, he would wipe that smug smirk off Sasuke's face; one day.

Sakura sighed in disappointment and wandered off, leaving Naruto alone in the clearing. He turned and leaped up onto the branches of a tree and took off, wondering if maybe that girl was awake yet.

OOO

"You're in luck, Naruto-san; she just woke up an hour ago." A nurse was saying as she led Naruto down the hospital corridors.

"Is she ok?" Naruto asked as she entered the room, but when he turned around the nurse had left him alone. He shrugged and turned back to see the girl sitting quietly in the bed, looking at him.

"Hey! You feeling better?" Naruto asked, sitting down at the edge of the bed. She continued to look at him silently with large, inquisitive brown eyes.

"Uh…" Naruto rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, wondering what to say. "What's your name, anyway?" He asked. She continued to stare at him.

"Look, if you don't want to talk, I can just leave…" He started to say but she held up her hand. "I was told you saved my life." She said quietly. Naruto frowned at her then shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Though what the hell were you doing sleeping in the middle of the woods?" He demanded, then blinked in surprise as she climbed out of bed.

He watched in shocked silence as she slowly lowered herself to her knees in front of him.

"I am in your debt, Master Naruto." She whispered, bowing her head. "It is the tradition of our people that when a life is saved, that life belongs to the savior." She explained quietly. "I am your humble servant."

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Naruto held up his hands. "I don't want a servant!" He exclaimed.

The girl stared at him in confusion. "Do you not wish me to be called a servant? What do you wish to call me?" She asked, looking up at him. Naruto shook his head. "You're not listening!" He groaned. "I mean I don't want you to be my servant or anything! I want you to go back to your village and live your life without serving anyone!"

"I do not have a village to return to." The girl replied quietly. "I came in search of an opportunity such as this; this is the tradition of my people, I need a master. My last master abandoned me a month ago." Though her words and eyes were calm, her lip trembled. "I do not have a free will. I need orders."

"Then I order you to have a free will." Naruto decided, standing up. "It doesn't work that way, Master." She said quietly and Naruto rolled his eyes, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. "This isn't happening!" He moaned. "I would have made Sasuke or someone who deserves this kind of torture save you if I knew this would happen!" He exclaimed.

"Do I displease you, Master?" The girl asked and Naruto glared at her. "Yes, you displease me!" He snapped. Her eyes were calm as she looked up at him then. "How do you wish for me to punish myself then, Master? Or would you prefer to do it yourself?" She asked. Naruto blinked, staring at her. He shook his head, unable to believe this.

"You displease me because you don't have a free will." Naruto sighed, his anger evaporating as he collapsed back onto the bed. "Get off your knees, please?" Naruto begged, hating seeing her like that. She obeyed quickly, rising to her feet. "Sit down." He ordered, and she immediately sat on the floor. He felt a small bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head as he forced a twitching smile. "I meant on the bed?"

She sat down quietly beside him, waiting for more orders. Naruto hesitated. He would have to talk to Lady Tsunade about this; apparently, she wasn't going anywhere.

"I'm not going to order you to do anything." He said and she frowned. "Then what will you do?" She asked and Naruto shrugged. "I dunno." He replied. "I need to go talk to someone, so will you stay here?" He asked.

"Of course; I shall await your return, Master." She replied. "Quit that!" He exclaimed. She stared at him in confusion. "Don't call me Master; call me Naruto, please?" He asked and she nodded. "Yes M-Naruto." She corrected herself. "And stop with the formal talking, it's annoying." He said as he left her in the room to go find Lady Tsunade.

OOO

"I don't know Naruto, I've heard of this kind of thing before; I don't think we can make her leave you alone." Lady Tsunade shrugged.

"Sounds like she's pretty serious." Lady Tsunade's assistant, Shizune, added.

"Unless you want us to lock her up, we can't do much about it." Lady Tsunade said and Naruto groaned. "What am I supposed to do with her?!" He exclaimed.

"Let her do her duty; you don't have to make her drag you around in a cart, just let her serve you until she finally can be set free from her duty." Lady Tsunade suggested. "How can she get freed?" Naruto demanded eagerly. "By death." She replied flatly and Naruto's shoulders sagged.

He was so screwed.

OOO

He didn't see the girl for a few days after that; he waited for her to randomly pop up and ask for orders, but she never showed.

Meanwhile, word spread around the village that Naruto now had a servant- he was used to teasing, but not about things he would never do, such as order a girl around and make her do the horrible things some of the men suggested he have her do.

He was starting to worry about her though; where was she?

He decided to check the hospital, see if they hadn't discharged her yet- he found her sitting on the bed in the exact spot he had left her.

"I have been waiting for you." The girl said as he walked in and Naruto smacked his hand against his forehead. "Gah! I forgot I told you to wait here!" He groaned. "Have you really been here this entire time?" He gasped.

She nodded. "I cannot do anything without your approval." She explained and Naruto groaned. This was going to be a long lifetime.

"Let's just go." Naruto sighed. "Do you have a place to stay?" He asked as she stood. She shook her head. "I am supposed to stay with my master." She replied, looking at him expectedly. He sighed. Of course.

"Great." He muttered. "Don't you have any other clothes?" He asked, frowning at her hospital gown. "Aren't you going to choose my uniform?" She asked and Naruto frowned. Uniform? Like a maid's outfit or something?

He imagined the girl in a little maid's dress and felt a trickle of blood escape his nose. Future Hokage or not, he was still a twelve-year-old boy.

"What about the clothes you were wearing before?" Naruto asked, shaking off the mental images that were surfacing- they were the kind of things if he spoke aloud Sakura would have thrashed him.

"Did you like those, Naruto?" She asked and he shrugged. "Sure, if you did."

"I liked them if you did." She replied and Naruto rolled his eyes. "I order you to tell me the truth, did you like those clothes?" He demanded, trying to remember what they looked like. She bit her lip, then shook her head slowly. "They weren't comfortable." She admitted softly and Naruto beamed. "There, you see that? That's called an 'opinion'- didn't that feel good?" Naruto asked and she blinked at him. "Is it supposed to feel good?" She asked and Naruto sighed. "Guess we're back to square one." He muttered, then looked back at her. "Come on; let's get you something to wear."

OOO

An hour later, Naruto realized he had forgotten something important.

"Hey, I never did get your name." He said suddenly. She looked back at him. "I don't have one." She replied. Naruto frowned. "What did your last master call you?" He tried. "'Girl'." She shrugged.

"What about your parents? They had to call you something other then 'girl'." He pointed out. "Four." She replied, and Naruto stared at her, flabbergasted. "Wha…?"

"My name was Four." She explained. "I was the fourth child." Naruto stared at her. "Your parents didn't even name you?" He asked, horrified. "Of course not. We do not receive names until we are married or our master decides on a name." She explained. "It is a term of endearment and parents do not wish to be attached to their children, for they lose them quite quickly, usually."

"Why?" Naruto asked, fascinated as he led the way around the clothing store, picking out random articles of clothing.

"Because they usually sell them." She replied quietly and Naruto stopped dead. "Your parents sold you?" He demanded. She nodded. "I fetched a good price." She said and Naruto thought she sounded almost… proud. Proud of being sold?

He just shook his head, unable to comprehend the strange world she came from. "Naruto…" She started, then hesitated. Naruto looked back at her. "Yeah?"

She looked down at her feet, suddenly looking shy. "Will you…?" She bit her lip. "I'm sorry." She hung her head suddenly. "I will not ask anything of you, I forgot my place." She whispered hurriedly. "No, it's all right; I like it when you ask me things." He said, turning to face her. "Come on, you can ask me anything."

She looked up at him, biting her lip again- he guessed that was something she did when nervous, like how Hinata poked her fingers together.

"…will you name me?" She whispered, then hung her head, embarrassed. He stared at her in surprise. "Uh, sure?" He said, blinking in confusion. "Why don't you pick something?" He asked and she shook her head vehemently. "It is not tradition!" She exclaimed. "The Master or husband always chooses the name!" She protested.

"All right, all right!" Naruto held up his hands, holding off her approaching rant- she looked upset.

"I'll pick something." He muttered, trying to think.

Where was he supposed to start? How did people go about picking names for people? Just pick a name they liked and slapped it on the person?

As he waited for the girl to change, he ran through names in his head, discarding all of them. None of them seemed to fit the quiet girl. It would hit him eventually, he supposed, just as she stepped out of the dressing room in the first outfit.

She was wearing tight-fitting black pants and a matching black top that exposed her midriff; she stood patiently in front of him, waiting for his opinion.

"Do you like it?" He asked. "Do you?" She replied automatically and Naruto groaned under his breath. Would it be too cruel to name the girl "Echo"?

"Tell me the truth, do you like it?" He sighed, and she frowned. "I don't like the shirt." She admitted. "It's too little." Naruto nodded- most of the girls he knew liked exposing that much skin, but he noticed she had her arms crossed over her exposed stomach.

"What about the pants?" He asked she nodded. "I like the pants." She said quietly. "They're comfortable." Naruto nodded, then said, "Why don't you go pick a shirt out?" He suggested and she frowned. "Do you want me too?" She asked. "Yes, in fact, I order you to find a shirt you actually like." He said and she nodded, moving off quickly into the aisles.

OOO

"I think you made a good choice." Naruto said as they left.

The girl had picked a pale purple sleeveless top that covered her midsection; it was simple, like most ninja wear. He wondered suddenly if she even was a ninja; she didn't wear a headband.

He asked her about it and she shook her head. "We are forbidden to learn to fight." She explained. He nodded, wondering if it wasn't too late to find her a teacher- he didn't like the idea of her being helpless.

"Have you thought of a name?" She asked shyly as they started to walk home. Naruto shrugged, looking up at the cold winter sky; dark clouds covered the night sky, and as he looked snow began to fall.

He had a flashback of finding the girl covered in snow, of running back through it. He looked back at her, and saw that she was looking up as well, snow landing on her cheeks and melting instantly.

"Yuuki." He decided. She looked at him in surprise. "Is that my name?" She asked and he nodded. "If you want it to be." He added and she smiled slightly. "I like that name." She said quietly.

"OK- Yuuki it is." He declared and she smiled wider as he followed him down the street. She paused when she saw the Hokages carved into the mountain, and frowned at him quizzically.

"Those are all faces of our past Hokages," Naruto explained, seeing her questioning face and knowing she was not going to voice her question. "And I'm going to be on there someday." He added and her eyes widened. "You will be a Hokage?" She asked, awe-struck. Naruto nodded and grinned, turning back to the mountain.

"Someday I am going to be Naruto Uzumaki, Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village!" He declared. Yuuki smiled slightly at him. "You will be a great Hokage, Naruto." She said and he flashed her a brilliant, if slightly embarrassed smile. No girl had ever said that before. "Thanks." He said as they began walking again.

"I will help you rise to the top." Yuuki said firmly as they walked. Naruto sighed. "I don't doubt it." He said, suddenly a bit dejected at the thought of putting up with her for that long. Yuuki's face fell a little. "Are you upset, Naruto?" She asked and he hesitated, then nodded slowly.

"I hate thinking that you're going to have to follow me around until then." He muttered. Yuuki looked at him, her eyes suddenly sad. "I am sorry if I am troubling you." She said quietly and Naruto shook his head. "No, you're fine." He said. "I just hate the fact you're always going to have to be someone's slave for life." He said, frowning.

"There are only two ways to break the cycle." She said quietly and Naruto turned to her. "What are they?" He asked eagerly. "One is for me to die." She said softly and Naruto sighed. "But, there is one other way- if, somehow, I ever saved your life, we would be, as you say, 'even'. The balance between servant and master would be reached, and we could live as equals." She explained and Naruto grinned at her. "Guess I'll have to bring you along on all my missions from now on- you'll probably have plenty of opportunities to save me then." He said and Yuuki frowned.

"Are you always in such danger, Naruto?" She asked, staring at him. "Yeah." He shrugged. "It's the way of the ninja." He explained. The color drained from her face and she nodded tightly.

"What's wrong?" He asked, concerned. She couldn't really be worried about his life yet, could she? They'd only known each other for one day…

"If you die, I will have to die too." She said quietly. Naruto stopped dead and stared at her. "But that's not fair!" He protested. "If something ever happened to me, you should be freed, not have to die too!" He exclaimed. She stared at him with calm eyes. "It is the way." She said firmly. Naruto sighed. He would never understand her family's traditions- maybe he could gradually teach her to ignore them, at least the most ridiculous ones like having to die if your master did.

"You don't have to worry about that though." He said as he started to walk again, Yuuki a few steps behind him. "I don't plan on dying before I become Hokage." He winked at her and she smiled slightly. "I hope you live a long, long time Master Naruto." She said quietly then winced as she said Master. Naruto let it slide, deciding not to address it.

"Come on- I'm starving, and I know a fantastic ramen place, what do you say we get something to eat?" He asked and she nodded once and Naruto grinned excitedly, as he always did at the thought of ramen as he led the way quickly down the road.

OOO

Author's Note:

Gah. Yuuki. It's so overdone.

Yet, I love the name. I'm sorry. xD

I got all cliché, I know, but oh well.

Now, please review! No flames please! :D

LOSGAP =D

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