Changes (7)

An hour later both boys exited the shop with belly's full of ramen. Ren had to admit the place definitely lived up to the hype. The ramen was beyond good and the shop owner Teuchi and his daughter Ayame. They were just as pleasant and fun to be around as the series had always shown them to be.

"I told you this place was the best! Believe it!" Boasted Naruto.

"It certainly lives up to its reputation Naruto, no doubts about that." Ren replied. "so wanna come over to my place to hang out more?"

Once more Naruto looked at his fellow blond with a dumbstruck expression.

"Well?" Asked Ren after a few moments without receiving an answer.

This shook Naruto of his daze. "Yes! I'd like that!"

Ren simply motioned his head for Naruto to follow him and turned on his heel towards the Yamanaka compound. After some traveling, the passed through the gates of the compound and head towards the main house where Ren lived. In the yard just outside the house was one Ino Yamanaka. She was wearing blue shorts and a long-sleeved shirt of the same color. With the Yamanaka clan symbol on the front of it.

Ino was playing in the yard when she saw her cousin approaching the house. She noticed a few things right away, like her cousin Ren was now wearing some sort of metal mask. Then she noticed someone else walking with her cousin, someone she didn't recognize. Though she could tell they had blond and blue eyes and whisker marks? Strangely enough, that adorned the person's cheeks.

"Hi, Ren! Who's this with you?" Piped Ino as she approached the two boys.

"Hey cousin." Greeted Ren. "This is Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto this is my cousin Ino Yamanaka."

Ino looked over the boy her cousin had brought home. Despite his battered looking cloths, she sensed this Naruto felt like a nice enough person. If her cousin trusted him, then she could too. "Nice to meet you Naruto!"

Naruto looked at the Yamanaka girl in front of him. She looked to be nice, like his new friend Ren. Maybe he would be lucky enough to make two friends in one day. "Nice to meet you as well Ino!"

"So what do you guys have planned?" Wondered the young heiress of the Yamanaka clan.

"Just came to hang out and kill time however we could. Care to join us?" Spoke up, Ren.

"Sounds good to me." Replied Ino.

All three children then took together for an afternoon of fun. They spent hours upon hours playing around the compound. Doing various games and activities. By the time they had started to settle down the sun in the sky had started to set. As Ino, Ren and Naruto were laying on the ground next to each other. As they looked up at the sky.

"Hey, Naruto." Spoke up Ino, breaking the silence. "It's starting to get late; don't you need to get home to your family?"

Naruto sat up with a sad expression on his face as he stared out into the distance. "I don't have a family actually, I'm all by myself. No mom, no dad, no siblings, nothing at all." He replied sadly.

Ino sat up looking at Naruto in shock at the revelation. Ren for his part sat up and did his best seem surprised as well.

"If that's the case, then where do you even live?" Ino questioned.

Naruto gave a brief glance her way before answering. "In some run-down shack of an apartment. It's barely above living on the streets in all honesty."

"So you have no one helping to look after you at all?" Ino asked, her surprise growing more.

Naruto gave a small nod of his head as he went to explain. "Yeah, I have no one at all. I was in the orphanage for a little bit, but they tossed me out as soon as they could. For whatever reason a lot of the people in the village hate and ridicule me whenever they can it seems'. I honestly don't understand why though at all. That's what was happening to me earlier today before Ren showed up and put a stop to it."

Ino didn't know what to say when she heard that. she quickly turned to her cousin to confirm what from him what she just heard was true. Ren gave a slight nod as to confirm all that she heard, was indeed true. Ino turned back to Naruto shock still written on her face. She had a hard time believing people in the village could be so cruel. She might not have known Naruto for that long, but she already could tell he was a good person. Not to mention he was just as old as she and her cousin. So what in the world could he have done to earn such hatred from people in the village? None of it made any sense at all to her.

Seeing things going in the direction he wanted, Ren decided to play his next card.

"Hey Ino, I have an idea." Spoke up Ren, drawing the focus of the other two to him. "Why don't we try convincing your dad to allow Naruto to live here with us? We have plenty of room here at the compound and the house too as well. It would certainly be a huge leap up from what he currently has."