More of her in the orphanage and a meeting with someone

disclaimer in the first

Yori propped her little fists against her equally little hips. Feeling accomplished with herself, she looked around at the bathroom. It was as clean as it could possibly get, without tearing it down and rebuilding the whole thing. All the mold that could be exterminated, was scrubbed away. The soap scum thickly lining the showers and sinks was gone, leaving almost sparkling tiles and metal behind. And the worst part, the toilets, had been polished and scrubbed to the nth degree. Leaving her comfortable enough to actually sit on them if and whenever she felt the need to relieve herself. Considering her little body and the pathetic cleaning materials she was given, she rather fancied herself a miracle worker.

Over all it had taken her about three and a half hours. Giving her roughly an hour to do as she wished. First things first, she needed to see if there was any reading material here in her nightmare slash afterlife. Obviously she wasn't in her home country anymore, judging by the language. She wondered if she was in an entirely new world, or if she was just in some nondescript version of her own former reality. Either way, she needed books to find out. She couldn't just ask, or she'd run the risk of the matronly ear-pinching lady reacting violently to a supposedly stupid question. At that she shuddered and rubbed her still sore ear.

Exiting the bathroom, she was shocked to find a sort of simplistic architectural floor plan. Outside the bathroom was a hallway, and directly across was a door she assumed led to another bedroom or a storage closet, and down the left of the hallway she saw two other doors- one of which being to the very room she had woken up in. In the opposite direction down the hallway she saw an well lit opening, and she assumed that this was a commons area. Therefore, it was her best bet at finding out anything. As she went over to it, she could hear the sounds of life, and smell food. The food made her stomach gurgle. Who knew when the last time she had eaten was in this body, considering how long she was unconscious.

As she entered the room, she saw that it looked about as rough as the rest of the building. The wood was worn and in some places splintering, and the rare areas which happened to have any paint adorning their structure, were peeling unattractively. The only things in the room that seemed to hold any inkling of happiness, were the kids. There were quite a few of them, most of them older, and they were all socializing; sitting in groups and never getting too rowdy. She could assume why, rubbing again at her ear.

As her eyes scanned the room, she took note of all the kids; they were all wearing not the same clothes persay, but the same type. Cheap, torn, and sometimes too small or too big. She looked down at her own dirty clothes and realized that they were much the same. She was wearing an overlarge pair of blue baggy shorts that reached down below her knees, and also a large white stained shirt, that was habitually falling off of one shoulder. The kids were also all very diverse. From young to teenage, light to dark, one similarity that seemed to travel throughout them all was the tendency to be skinny, sometimes over much. She got a feeling that this place was not a daycare or anything like that. She had been to an orphanage before, and although it was much different from this place, it was also very much the same.

As her eyes scanned the room, she noted the worn down furniture, the stains on almost everything, the scuffs, the smears, and the very distinct lack of anything fragile or expensive. Nothing but the bare necessities; it was rather spartan to be honest. A few couches, a few tables and a few- Aha!- bookcases with old looking torn up books. She softly walked across the room toward one of the bookcases. Nobody tried to stop her, nobody tried to talk to her. It was as though she was a part of the woodwork. It would seem as though at least some things had stayed the same from her own world. She didn't know whether to feel relieved about that or not. She decided it was bitter sweet.

As she made it to the bookshelves, she examined the titles. She saw a thick one on learning kanji, and a dictionary, so she grabbed those right off. Then she looked around some more and found one labeled, 'Geography and Cultures of the Elemental Nations' or at least she was pretty sure that was what it said, she couldn't be positive.

She felt a sense of foreboding. Elemental Nations? That couldn't possibly be, she grabbed it quickly off the shelf, and made her way over to one of the emptier corners, to a small table with nothing on it and a singular worn chair that looked ready to snap anytime. She sat and immediately opened the book. What she read she found hard to believe. It couldn't be? Naruto? The fictional world of Naruto the anime and manga?

Feeling herself begin to freak out a bit, she read as much of the book as she could. She had read the manga before. She had found the volumes one day while she was cleaning one of her younger cousins' room. She had cracked it open, curious, seeing as she had heard about it in passing many times before. She had fallen in love with the plot and storyline right away. It made her laugh and cry- it was a very touching series- and was likely one of her favorite mangas. Not that she really read much manga other than the ones she happened upon from school or the public library. Usually she was the kind to read the more stereotypical, seemingly more boring nonfiction book. Absorbing knowledge like a sponge.

The manga series had shocked her with her immediate like of it and she had finished all that there was to read in almost a month. Very little sleep and a quickened pace in chores had gotten her through it. Afterwards, she was so into it she had even looked up extra facts about it on the internet. She had shocked herself with her like of it. But she didn't know that much. Certainly not all that she was reading from the book in her hands. There were details in this book that were never even mentioned in the series or theorized by fans. Places and customs and historical events and landmarks that had nothing to do with the series. It just seemed so very real, when Naruto was so obviously not.

She would have stuck to the books for much longer if she could, puzzling things out in her head, but a loud ringing swept through the room. Everyone got up, and although many were still talking, others were silent as they all moved as one, putting things away and tidying up before migrating to a large open doorway with no door that she had not noticed before. In fact there were three doorways, and seeing as there were kids rushing in from the third door dirty sweaty and flushed, she assumed that it led to the outside.

Realizing that she was staring, Yori rushed to put her books away and follow the rest of the group. Blending in with the moving mass of bodies, she entered what looked like a dining room. There were a few long tables, and she joined the edge of an already seated group of girls who looked her own physical age. All the other kids seemed to be doing the same, sitting separated by gender and age group. Next thing she knew the Matron lady, as well as a couple of older teenage kids, came out with food. Everyone was served with a sort of mechanic fluidity.

She looked at the food, and it seemed to be a sort of watered down vegetable soup. Then rolls of bread were passed around, and when she got hers, it also left some to be desired, hard as it was. Her stomach didn't seem to care, and like a majority of the other kids, she dug in. She left her bread in the broth to soak, and maybe soften enough for her not to chip a tooth when she bit into it.

After dinner was concluded, and everyone turned their empty dishes in, they were told that they were allowed three hours free time after dinner starting today, due to the seasons changing. There was a threat that any not in bed by that time, were going to be sleeping outside. Yori had no doubt that she meant every word. Just as they had shuffled into the room, the kids all moved out of it; save for a handful, who seeme to be moving toward the dishes. She assumed that they were on dishes duty or something of the sort.

As soon as she was back in the room, she grabbed the books she had been working on and a few other informative ones, and got back to reading. What she was reading only made her more incredulous. Either this was the most elaborate dream she had ever had, or she was going crazy. Because there was no chance in heck that she had actually been transported to the Naruto world. To be honest she didn't know how to feel about this. Because these books were telling a story that was just too unbelievable. But what could she do? She felt like this was all real, she could feel pain, and other emotions- fear being one of them as well as panic- she could still think to herself, and the people around her looked genuine; laughing, talking and overall acting as a real person would.

She spent the entirety of the next three hours by herself reading. She focused her mind on the words on the page and deciphering what they were telling her, memorizing the facts in case they came in handy. She had no clue what she was going to do, but she gave her mind a rest from having to figure that out. When it came time to go to bed, despite her body demanding rest, it took her longer than the others to fall asleep. She eventually came to a shaky decision before she fell into a deep slumber. She decided that if it all turned out to be a coma induced dream, it wouldn't matter what she did. Not that she was capable of much. But because she was given this life like dream, really a blessing in disguise, she decided that she would make the most of it. It was her dream, her life. She would do with it what she wanted, and have a fulfilling time as much as she was capable of.

This didn't mean she was going to suddenly develop social skills or anything like that, that was impossible- even in a dream like this. She simply couldn't change that much of who she was so quickly. No she decided that she would train, she would be a ninja. She would help so many people- even if they weren't real. It wasn't impossible for her, because this was her dream, and she could accomplish anything, she was capable of anything! She had never felt like that before, and it was a liberating thought. She wondered if this is how everyone else felt all the time?

She knew that it would be hard, considering the detail and realism of her dream, but she didn't care. It was a beautiful world, full of potential and she wanted to make the most of it. Blurred lines between reality and fantasy bedamned.

She had always wanted to make all the sad people in the series more happy- her heart bled with each tragic story and sad happening. Perhaps that was another factor to putting her in this world? To fulfill her desire to make everything better? She knew that it would probably be impossible for the most part, but she wanted to give it a try. If it was her dream then she could do anything. Tomorrow she would go out- after chores if she had any- go to the library and tour the village. She had overheard the others talking during dinner so she knew a bit about where she was- which was in Konoha, amazingly- a few of the places nearby and some interesting things about them, mixed within other more insignificant things that she didn't want to recall. Cute boys and whatnot; she could hardly understand the appeal at this age.

Although there were things to consider about the rate of maturity in this world; considering her own age and conscious thoughts. It was difficult to comprehend.

She would worry about it tomorrow.

Yori knew that she was in trouble, when a few weeks after waking up in Konoha she ran into a lonely little blond boy with three whisker like birthmarks on his face and bright cerulean eyes. She guessed that covered the timeline question she had been pondering; the Hokage monument, while magnificent to behold, did little to tell her about current events. It was none other than Naruto himself. He was wearing a baggy white shirt with the whirlpool symbol on the front with a long sleeve green shirt underneath, longer dark blue pants that reached his shins with the popular navy blue ninja sandals upon his feet. He was just standing there. Off to the side of the playground, in it but alone, staring at the other kids playing without him. There was a look on his face that showed he was thinking, and it most certainly wasn't happy thoughts.

She couldn't stand it. It was one of the most heartbreaking things she had ever seen. Before she knew what she was doing and before she could stop herself, she had already walked up to him and grabbed the sleeve of his white shirt. He looked at her with surprise, and she had no clue what to do. She looked into his big sad eyes, and it was like her heart just melted. She was weak. Way to weak. She smiled a bit, still looking into his eyes, and tugged on his sleeve, taking him toward the swings. He looked surprised, and as though he was in a trance he followed her, stumbling a bit on his own little feet.

She stopped next to the still swinging, vacant swings. The other kids had run away as soon as she and Naruto had come near. She looked back and saw that Naruto was looking down at the ground gripping the bottom of his shirt tightly. She figured he was embarrassed about everyone else leaving like they had, knowing it was his presence that scared them away. She tugged harder on his sleeve until he sat on the swing, she then moved around until she was behind him, and started pushing. She herself had never done anything like this before, so she hoped she was doing it right. It had always seemed like fun whenever she had watched other kids do it when she was a kid, and she was often envious of others to have people to push them and have fun with them like that. Looking at Naruto's back, she realized that the tenseness that was there before that she hadn't even noticed, was practically gone.

She froze briefly, before smiling widely, and pushing even more enthusiastically. She could have sworn she just heard him laugh. It was the greatest feeling ever- a warmth exploded in her chest and squeezed her lungs. She only wished she could have seen him laugh, and wasn't stuck behind him. If it weren't for the fact that pushing someone on the swings had to be done from behind, she would dash around to the front, just to get a glance, to see if he was smiling like the laugh implied. She used her little arms as much as she could to push him up as high as the swing would go. Soon she could only grasp his feet to push, and she could hear more laughs the higher he went- it was so nice.

She was sad that it couldn't go on forever. She did her best to keep pushing even though her arms were burning and she struggled to keep them up, but it just was not to be. It had been around noon when she had approached Naruto, and she had been pushing him for about 45 minutes- it seemed as though he was still having fun, but the other kids seemed to be getting angry that they were still using the swings. She wouldn't mind really, because Naruto was having so much fun and they could always share the empty swings that were around them, but she was starting to notice that some adults were getting antsy with their kids; and that was much more worrisome than a frustrated child.

Reluctantly she decreased the power of her pushes, until Naruto began to slow down to a stop. His laughing had stopped some time ago, but the occasional giggle escaped, and now, there was nothing. If anything he was tensing up again. She felt sad at that, and when the swing stopped completely, and she went around to the front of the swing, Naruto looked at her with the most hopeful eyes she had ever seen. Weak. She was so weak. She couldn't control herself again, and grabbed his sleeve once more. She didn't know what other game there was that he might enjoy, but she would ask him.

As she dragged him away from the swings, all the other children swarmed them, fighting each other over the swings when there weren't enough for everyone. The adults as well sent one last angry look before focusing again on their charges and breaking up the few skirmishes that had broken out. It was so strange to her, but she didn't dwell on it. As they walked, well, more like as she pulled Naruto around behind her, she stopped at the corner of the playground, near the treeline, and she turned around. She steeled herself for looking into those eyes again, and even then it was hard for her to do anything once she got a good look. The manga renditions had nothing on the utter adorableness that was this young naruto. She just wanted to give him a hug- not that she hadn't wanted to when she read the manga, just that now that he was in front of her she wanted to even more.

They were possibly the most heart rendering things she had ever seen, his eyes. But she had always had a weakness for puppydog eyes. She couldn't resist anyone's, let alone Naruto's, who seemed to be a master without even knowing. He was looking at her again, under his thick eyelashes, and it was one of the hardest things she had ever done to not make an embarrassment of herself. She didn't know what to do now. She was still holding his sleeve, and she released it when she realized. Looking at him again, he gave her more of the hopeful look. She cleared her throat.

"umm… What games do you like?" she hoped she had asked the right question. She was pants at social situations and communicating and she knew it. Hence her lack of talking until now. Even in the question she had just asked, she sounded uncertain and sheepish. She looked away in embarrassment. And as such, she missed the look of shocked happiness that lit up Naruto's face.

"I like Ninja!" He had grabbed her hand and yelled this. His face held none of the sadness she had witnessed earlier. In fact it was so bright she was almost blinded. She smiled back at him, and he laughed excitedly. It seemed like a game that he would like to play, considering his massive energy stores and limitless stamina, not to mention his goals for the future. He declared that his name was Naruto Uzumaki and he was going to be Hokage, and she felt so honored to be able to witness such a thing in person- it was truly a thing to see, even so young. She wondered when precisely his dream of becoming a Hokage had even developed. Shaking the thought away quickly, she gave her name in return. She reckoned she had stares in her eyes.

He declared that the one to be the 'Enemy Ninja' in their game was to be decided by a game of rock paper scissors. She had won with paper to his rock, and so the chase began. She didn't stand much of a chance as far as speed and lasting went, but she used her head enough to evade him for a time, and then it was her turn to be 'Hokage'.

It would be a completely honest statement to say that it was turning out to be the funnest day of her life. She ran around with Naruto like a chicken with its head cut off. Screaming and laughing loudly along with him. Falling in the dirt, hiding in bushes, climbing trees, and overall running around, getting dirty and sweaty. Her plans of going to the library as she did everyday- memorising information and reading all the books, one by one- were gone. It wasn't until the sun began to sink low down in the sky that she realized that she had to go.

The matron lady seemed to have a vendetta against her specifically. She noticed that, even today, she received some of the most grueling chores; and it was all to be done by herself without assistance. Cleaning the bathrooms was one of the Lady's favorites, along with cleaning the kitchen and doing all the laundry. If it weren't for the fact that cleaning was something that she was used to and knew how to do efficiently, she would be held up for hours longer than she was already. The lady also seemed to glare at her more, and serve her the hardest, oldest rolls and the bowls of food with the least substance. Yori didn't know what it was that she had done, and so chalked it up to something that happened before her awakening.

She wouldn't let it bother her overmuch though, the things weren't as bad as they could have been. Afterall it wasn't like the Matron Lady was really fond of anyone, it was just that she hated Yori more than she hated everyone else.

Stopping next to a tree, Yori waited until Naruto caught up to her, and it didn't take long with his speed. He tackled her to the ground in his enthusiasm. He was laughing loudly and she couldn't help the giggle that escaped when they sat up and he had a branch with leaves on it sticking out proudly from his wild blonde hair. She reached up to pull it out and Naruto simply smiled the whole time with his face scrunched up and eyes squinted. She wished she could stay outside forever and play with him. As it was she knew that she was going to be coming out to spend the three free hours after dinner with him, if she could.

She hated to be the one to put an end to the fun, but it had to be done. Cautiously she put the branch to her side and looked at her hands, which she was twisting nervously at the bottom of her shirt. The same shirt she had worn almost everyday since waking up here. The orphans didn't get very many changes of cloths, and being the Matrons least favorite, she especially got very few. Clearing her throat, she clenched her hands into fists, and looked up at Naruto's face. The only times they had really talked since she asked him what games he liked, had been when they were yelling at each other, 'found you!'s or 'got you!'s and other things like that.

She knew that she would have to try her hardest and say something correctly- so as not to hurt his feelings or make him feel as though she wanted to leave, when really she wanted anything but. Exhaling, then inhaling, she talked, looking him dead in his happy eyes, which were becoming more and more confused the longer she kept quiet.

"I have to go back to eat dinner, but I promise that I'll come back after and then we will have three more hours to play before I have to go back again to sleep but then tomorrow if you can can we play again I'llwaitforyoubytheplaygroundifyes!" By the end of it she was yelling and talking really fast, she was so nervous. Looking at him through it all, she saw a crushed expression cross his face, before realization dawned and he again was happy and excited. Jumping up and down happily he agreed to wait for her at the playground tomorrow as well as wait for her until she was done with dinner. She felt so relieved there were almost no words.

Even if it was most likely bound to happen anyways, seeing as he is a key player of this world- the main character- she couldn't help but feel super happy that she had met Naruto. He would be her first friend, at least she assumed he would be her friend if they kept meeting up and playing like this. Of course she didn't want to make any assumptions, and she would make sure to ask first later if he was ok with her considering him her friend. She had never had a friend before, and she felt giddy with the thought. She felt like she was walking on clouds as she made her way back to the Orphanage.