Chapter One Arriving at the H

It's Naruho not Naruto! (revised edition)

Chapter One
Arriving at 'Home'


    "I wonder what time it is?"

 It was a bitter cold December evening. I bet I could tell you what your first thoughts about December are - snow! Winter is my favorite season. One of various reasons is the winter wonderland it gives us, only once every 365 days. Countless memories can be placed within hearts - sitting by the cracking fireplace as the heat settles into your skin, the steaming hot chocolate that would warm up your insides leaving you with a sweet nectar taste, the smell of homemade chocolate chip cookies which it would be best served with a tall glass of milk.

Just thinking about it makes me so excited, I nearly trip on the frosty ground. But sadly, I would have to wait a while. My feet shifted, almost dragging along the hibernated floor. One step at a time, I repeated to myself as encouraging words.

The trees were in a deep, sound sleep. The leaves were still attached onto the branches, like a kid not wanting to get rid of his beloved blanket. I rubbed my hands together in a fast movement, hoping the friction would heat them a little bit even a small percentage.

I started breathing in small measures, the hot air warming my frozen fingers and surrounding them with pale vapor and steam. My nose was bright red from its nakedness to the climate; every other part of me was bundled up. With the snow blanketing the world, everything was muffled. It was weird, not hearing any sounds from my surroundings.

No birds in the trees sang their sweet melodies, the ones they spent all their lives memorizing. No footsteps skirted across the earth's surface. It just remained silent. So quiet I could hear my heart beating through my coat.

My eyes were focused on the dirt road rather than straightforward. My sandals crunched up the leaves that were long dead. I could tell I was very close to my destination; the pathway was growing wider in width. I crammed my tensed neck, looking up.

My wooden hat blocked mostly all of the threads of my hair, but of course the rebellious ones disobeyed and fell. The sun hit my eyes, and I knew they were glimmering that aquamarine-blue colour I was so proud of. They're definitely my best feature.

I started dawdling, halting to a stop. Before me was the new location I would soon call 'home', but deep down I still questioned that theory. Giant gates blocked my way. Two guards stood at either side in a tall posture.

They barely noticed my presence and looked at me with glints of curiosity in their eyes. Didn't their parents ever teach them the simple rules of not staring at people? It was really rude. They scanned me top to bottom.

I decided to get a closer look of them. They looked around middle-aged and most likely Jounin-level, which was far superior to myself. One had bandages that covered up of his right side of his face, reminding me of an eye patch. The other one had a Band-Aid like thing on the arch of his nose. They both shared the same shade of hair and expression. They stopped me in my tracks before I could make another move.

"What's your purpose?" Eye-patch guy said. Yup, that's the new nickname I gave him as it suited him quite perfectly.

I seriously hated pointless questions. My patience was so close to the fuse; I didn't have time for their interrogation.

'Humph! What's it to you?" I answered, breaking into a run, passing them and going through the entrance.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" They yelled, running after me.

"N. O. Y. D. B.!" I tossed over my shoulder. "Since you're guys are too stupid it means 'None Of Your Damn Business'! Ever heard of privacy?" I sped faster almost going twice the speed. Their faces were priceless as I hit the bull's eye.

I could tell the Band-Aid guy was getting really tired of my attitude. I already knew I would beat them in this kind of race. Otherwise, like in combat fighting, I would lose in less than a minute - I wasn't exactly their level, and I wasn't an idiot.

True, I wasn't exactly the smartest person, but I was talented at teasing. "Come on gramps, at least give me a challenge" I yelled as their figure slowly started getting smaller. After about 3 minutes I lost them. Taking in huge breaths, I barely noticed I was panting. I felt like I just ran 5 miles.

"Ha suckers!" I said with a smile upon my face, planting my hands on my hips firmly. I wiped away the sweat on my forehead with the back of my hand. "This is already fun!~' I thought and starting walking into town.

The sight of said town, of course, had me staring in amazement.

I only had been in a few towns here and there, before now I only stopped for a rest so I didn't have much time to tour around. Now I took off my hat and shoved it in my bag. Blonde locks danced with the small drift of wind twirling.

I carefully channeled a small portion of my chakra to the bottoms of the soles of my feet. I took a few steps backward, carefully trying to find my aim. Then I raged towards one of the many poles, jumping and letting the soles of me feet land heavily. The chakra worked like glue on the cold metal. I ran vertically, straight up like if I was going into the sky.

When I finally reached the top of the pole, I balanced myself out. I wasn't afraid of heights; rather, I loved it. You felt like you were flying. I could see the whole entire place, every building. I gasped as I saw one of this village's greatest landmarks. The HokageMonument.

Yup I was finally here. I arrived at The Village Hidden In The Leaves.

Every face of every previous Hokage was plastered on the mountain side. They were lined up from left to right. Their blank faces were pointed in different directions. It seemed to me that they all were looking down on the future generation.

I looked at the fourth one. I still remember the stories I heard about the 4th being the one to stop the 9 tails from furthering destroying the village. His famous nickname was the Yellow Flash. You can say I admired him a lot. Only the third remained alive. Even though the face they made as probably looked 20 years old, since he's an old man by now. I finally decided to get down, getting over my excitement for the moment.

My stomach roared with anger. I sighed; I forgot I haven't eaten in almost a day. Jumping down, I landed feet first. It made dust float around like a wave and I brushed my pants off, not wanting any dirt particles on them. I scanned around the area, hoping to find the nearest restaurant to satisfy my dying stomach whilst it continued its complaining.

"Oh!" I shouted with glee. A ramen shop! It was my lucky day. Ramen wasn't exactly my favorite food but that doesn't mean I wouldn't eat it. Plus due to the freezing weather it was a perfect dish. I ran up to the shop. I ducked my head inside avoiding the paper that hung from the ceiling. Inside was a quite small place. Only about 7 chairs were lined up horizontally. An old man with a white rode stood with his arms crossed.

"Welcome what would you want to order?" He asked politely. I sat down in the middle for no parent reason. No one else was in here. Maybe they don't get a lot of business?

The chair was surprising soft with its cushion. "Can I have 4 bowls of ramen also put extra fish cakes?" I asked, already dreaming about it. Was I really that hungry?

"Right away, ma'am!" He said with an excited tone. I looked away not wanting to tempt myself more by watching him make the food. "This is sure a lot of food for a little lady like yourself," He said, like he wanted to make conservation with me.

"Yeah but believe me I can handle it!~" I chirped. I swear I thought drool was coming out of my mouth when the smell of the hot noodles entered my nostrils.

'Well here you go," he said as he softly shoved a big bowl of ramen to me. I grabbed the chopsticks and bowed down.

"Arigato!" I said, clapping my hands together. Then I slurped out all the noodles. I usually save the broth for last.

I even amaze myself as well as the man while I chugged the leftovers. I bet the gramps was thinking that I was a crazy lady. I admit to that statement. "Ah! Best food I had in a while!" I sighed contentedly, as the man smiled that someone praised his food. After about 3 more bowls I was stuffed to the very max.

Next thing you know my head is lying against the table with a toothpick. Sadly, good things came to an end when I received the bill. "Eh!" now I blamed my stomach for getting myself broke.

"Come again!" he said as I left. "Yeah…" I muttered. 'When I'm rich again,' I thought, depressed

I looked inside my empty wallet with no green for company. "I lost all my money from ramen," I said to myself, putting my pouch away into my left pocket located on my thigh. I had quickly gotten over my period of depression. I felt so full of energy now. Now even my stomach couldn't complain. I patted my belly, sighing.

The sun was starting to come out from behind the clouds now. I could feel it's rays hitting the pores of my skin. I closed my eyes, smiling. Slowing my pace, I titled my head back, enjoying the moment. It wasn't like I had anything planned anyway. I placed my arms on the back of my head, trying to enjoy this moment of peace.

Well I guess someone else thought differently. I felt a hard slap on the back of my head. Believe me, it wasn't exactly a kind slap either. I could feel a bump forming rapidly.

"Ow!" I yapped, putting both of my hands on the spot. "What was that for!?" I yelled turning to the person. It was a girl that looked my age. She had a bright almost neon pink hair. Her emerald green eyes looked down on me. She was wearing a pink dress that went down to cover her knees. It was weird how green went perfectly with pink.

"You baka, we were supposed to meet Kakashi-sensei at the brigde! Ten minutes ago! I have been trying to find you!" she screamed in my face.

'Eh? Is this girl mistaking me for someone else?'I thought. "Um miss I don't know if you have any mental problems but I'm not who you think I am," I said, trying to back away from the psychopath before I get into more harm.

"Humph! You baka, do you really think you can fool me with your sexy jutsu? If you do then you really are a knuckle head!" she said, denying me.

'Sexy…jutsu? Just who is this person she's looking for?' I thought confused. The pain slowly washed away as my hands landed next to my sides again. 'He must be a pervert if he made something like that'.Thank god I didn't know these people. Before I could run away from her she dragged me (physically), grabbing on my collar shirt. "Nani!? What the hell are you doing?" I shouted as we grabbed everyone's attention. She was making a scene!

If I didn't have my hands holding on my shirt, she would have killed me from choking. My legs twisted in fury. Her hold only grew tighter. I screamed and moved around, but resistance was futile.

Of course no one did anything to help me. Probably because they didn't want to feel the wrath that was pouring out my kidnapper's eyes. Yes, I decided I had been kidnapped. I yelled for help the whole time. I could feel a burn arising on my back. 'I swear after this I am going to kick her butt so badly!'

I had no idea where she was taking me. It was quite confusing when you are traveling backwards. Plus I was a stranger around these parts. 'Just my luck…'

Finally, we arrived at a red bridge with a flowing river calmly going beneath it. 'Where the hell are we?' I thought, not familiar at all with this place. She finally dropped me on the floor rather roughly. Thank god it had grass on it I didn't want to even think about what I would feel if it wasn't.

"I finally brought the baka here," she said, walking away from me.

"I know, I could hear all of his screaming from a mile" A voice said as it alarmed me. I slowly stood up, facing the two people. My throat was kind of sore.

"First of all, why did you people kidnap me!?" I shouted in their direction."Second, did you just call me a freakin guy?!" I lost my temper. It's not like I liked being dragged across the whole town and then being mistaken as a dude. Wasn't my ideal day.

I looked at the guy. He had onyx eyes, filled with darkness. He wore a blue shirt that covered his neck, and leaned against the wood with his hands dug in his shorts pockets. But I almost laughed when I saw his hair. "Hahahaha!" I chuckled, unable to hold it back. I started holding onto my stomach, I was laughing so hard.

"What's so funny, dobe?" he said.

"You…You're hair looks like a duck's butt!" I said not able to control my laughter.

My second cause of death? Laughing. Better than being choked, right? The two of them looked at me like now I was the crazy person.

"You get stupider every day," he grumbled.

I loved the look he had with mixed emotions of embarrassment and anger. I almost forgot about the question I asked earlier about capturing me. It wasn't like I had money. Plus they didn't look like your typical thieves. But I didn't have the time to repeat my question, since a poof of white smoke was fluttered everywhere in the center of the bridge.

"Eh!?" I said, trying to block off as much smoke by raising my arms to my face. I tried keeping my eyes wide open but they closed of their own accord. My vision was completely blocked. 'Is this an attack or something?' I thought, staying in my current position.

"Hello guys, sorry I'm late. I got lost on the path of life once again!" A deep voice said. Replaced by the smoke that cleared off stood a man with silver hair. His headband blocked off his right eye. His black mask also covered his mouth. He held in his left hand a novel. I read the title seeing it said "Icha Icha Paradise". He was definitely the strangest man I had ever met. First I meet a psychopath girl, and duck's butt boy, and now a perverted man.

"Yeah right Kakashi-sensei, that's the same reason you always use." The girl said, crossing her arms.

"Oh I see all of you are here then, hm?" He asked, clearly wanting to ignore that comment.

"Yeah we had to get this dobe here." The duck butt boy eyed me from the previous comment I had made. He's still crying over that? It wasn't my fault his hair was like that. Blame the ducks!

"Humph! You guys are totally off track. I am not, did you heard me, not who you think I am!" I hollered as my hands rolled into fists.

"Then are you suggesting you are an imposter? Or you're bored, are still using that stupid jutsu?" The boy said, probably liking the first suggestion better.

"Or maybe because you're wrong!" I said. These people did not get the point even though the simplest terms.

"Sakura-chan!~" A voice said catching our attention. Everyone whipped around, looking in the direction it came from.

"Naruto?" everyone said.