-Aiko POV-

We're walking through the village. I looked up at the silver haired man known as Kakashi. He is really nice to me even though I was so mean when I first got here. His hair is really fun to play with too. My stomach grumbled again and he looked down at me in amusement.

"Hungry?" He asked. I looked at him slightly.

"Only a little" I said quietly. However, my stomach decided to give away my lie and growled again, but louder. He chuckled at me and led me to a little shop of some kind. The sign said 'ichiraku ramen'. I walked in cautiously. Suddenly, a delicious smell hit Me. I Followed scarecrow to stools and smiled at him. It's getting easier to smile around these people.

"It smells good in here!" I said excitedly. He chuckled at me and turned to look somewhere.

"Well that's good to hear!" A voice laughed. I squeaked and hid behind scarecrow. He looked down at me confused as I peaked around him to look at the man behind the counter. Apparently, realization hit him because he moved me from behind him softly.

"It okay Aiko." He whispered. I looked at him.

"Is he a good person?" I asked. He nodded and I sighed in relief before turning to the man. He wore a white shirt and funny looking hat. He looked old and had lines on his face when he smiled. He smiled at me warmly and i gave a hesitant smile back.

"Hello there. I'm Teuchi. What's your name?" He asked softly.

"Aiko"

"It's nice to meet you Aiko. Please have a seat and i will get you some ramen. Do you like miso?" He asked. I tilted my head in confusion.

"What's ra-men?" I asked. He looked slightly shocked before smiling again.

"It's a food I think you'll like. Since you're new here, this meal is on the house." He told me as I got back on my stool. I smiled in thanks as he went into what I think is a kitchen. I turned to scarecrow.

"Aren't you hungry?" I asked him. He looked at me and smiled.

"No. I'm fine." He said. I nodded. He probably doesn't want to take off his mask. I heard a swish and a yell.

"Hey old man! Can I have a miso ramen?!" A voice yelled from one side of scarecrow. I shrunk in my seat to keep from seen. I don't like loud noises. I really don't. Plus I don't know if this guy is a good person. Scarecrow must have noticed my discomfort because he patted my head. I returned to my normal position, knowing that if something went bad that scarecrow would help me. Whoever it was apparently saw me cause they sat beside me and turned to me, smiling widely.

"Hey! I'm naruto Uzamaki! I'm going to be the next hokage. Believe it!" He yelled loudly. I flinched back slightly and looked at scarecrow. He gave me an encouraging nod and I turned back to see a blonde boy with pretty blue eyes. I smiled softly at him and for some reason he turned slightly pink.

"Hi. I'm Aiko. Nice to meet you naruto." I said to him. The pink on his cheeks grew but I brushed it off.

"It's great to meet you too! You wanna be friends, uh, since you're, uh, new and stuff?" He asked, stuttering. See? for some reason, boys talk weirdly around me. Anyways.

"What's a friend?" I asked him. He looked back a me curiously before answering.

"A friend is someone you trust and that trusts you back, they are nice to you and know when something's wrong. A best friend is someone you can share secrets with and hang around any time." He said sadly. I'm guessing he doesn't have many friends.

"Well. Lets be best friends Naruto. Okay?" I said. He looked at me in surprise before nodding excitedly and running of. I looked to scarecrow questioningly.

"Doesn't he have many friends? He seems really nice." I asked him. He looked at me and smiled happily.

"Actually, you are his first friend Aiko."

"Really? Well he's my first friend too." I said. I'm still getting used to different emotions other than anger, sadness, and sarcasm.

"Well how about after lunch, we get you some clothes?" He suggested. I shook my head.

"I don't want to waste your money." I said. He chuckled at me and ruffled my hair.

"It wouldn't be a waste. You can't be wearing those old clothes all the time." He said. I looked at him carefully.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Positive." He said with a warm smile. I smiled brightly and hugged him quickly. He chuckled softly and hugged back gently. I heard an 'awe!' And buried my face in his arm. This is to many new people. I felt him pat my back reassuringly and turned my head slightly to see Teuchi and a young women staring at me. I looked up at Kakashi and he nodded, so I new she was a good person. I let him go and waved at the girl. Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a small 'o'. She walked over to me and opened her arms. I looked at her in confusion.

"I need a hug from you." She said simply. I looked at Kakashi and he nodded, a little confused. I walked to her slowly and gave her an unsure hug. She hugged back quickly before rushing out. Teuchi chuckled.

"Sory about my daughter. Any ways, here you go young lady! Enjoy!" He said happily setting down a bowl and two sticks that were stuck together. I picked them up and turned them around, studying them. Suddenly, they broke apart. I turned to scarecrow.

"Scarecrow, I broke them." I said, still confused on what they were. He had been watching me with an amused expression and was now chuckling loudly.

"No, you didn't. They're supposed to be like that." He said. I made an 'ohhhhhh' noise and looked at him again.

"What are they?" I whispered. He laughed softly at me and put them in my hands so that one end was open and one end was closed.

"They're for eating the ramen. They're called chopsticks." He said. I nodded and poked the ramen with them before looking back at him.

"How do I use them?" I asked. He laughed lightly again and put his large, gloved hand over my little one. He made the chopsticks open and close, grabbing the ramen and picking it up. Oh, so that's how you do it!

"I think I got it now!" I said. He looked at me in surprise.

"You sure?"

"Yup!" I opened and closed the chopsticks myself before trying it with the ramen. Since I saw it, I can now do it. It's always been like that. I ate some noodles and my eyes widened. It was delicious. I ate some more and soon enough I was done with my bowl. I set down my chopsticks before looking at a surprised Teuchi."

"Thank you mister Teuchi! That was really good!" I said. He laughed happily at me and set a hand on my head, much like scarecrow does.

"Glad to hear it Aiko. Promise you'll come back soon?" He said smiling. I nodded happily and me and scarecrow left the shop. He started walking in a random direction and I followed beside him. People stared at us and I subconsciously grabbed his hand. He looked down at me kindly and lightly pulled me to a building. Inside were cloths and clothes. I looked at them questionably and turned to him.

"What do I do first?" I asked. He set a finger to his chin in thought before looking down at me. We both nodded.

"We ask the store manager" we said in unison. I giggled and he laughed as we walked to the desk. A young women looked at us curiously.

"Excuse me miss but do you mind helping us find her some clothes?" Scarecrow asked. Her eyes lit up and she nodded exitedly.

"Of coarse! Come, come!" She ushered us to a part of the store with dresses. "Alright miss, what colors do you like?" She asked. I had to think a minute about that. I've always liked red, black, and silver.

"Red and black. And silver like his hair." I said, pointing to Kakashi. The girl and him laughed lightly at me. The girl searched through racks and clothes before lookin back at us, small pile in her arm.

"Let's get started!" She cheered, grabbing my hand and pulling me some where. Luckily, scarecrow was following us or I would've freaked out. She pulled me to a door and handed me the pile.

"Go in there and try these on then come out and show us. Kay?" She said. I nodded slowly and entered the small room. I set the pile on a bench and picked up the first outfit. A black dress with a silver rose wrapping around it with red leggings. I slipped it on and slowly opened the door. I poked my head out to see scarecrow and the lady making small talk.

"Um excuse me. What is this for?" I asked, holding a large red scarf thing. She giggled softly and came over, taking the scarf thing and wrapping it around my waist before tying a bow in the back. She stepped back and smiled lightly.

"It looks good" scarecrow said.

"Thank you" I told him. He sent me a kind smile through his mask. The girl nodded and gently pushed me back into the room. I looked at the next outfit. Deep red mid-thigh dress that had one sleeve, silver leggings and a black sash thing like last time. I put on the out fit and walked out. They looked at me and there eyes widened slightly for some reason. The girl nodded quicker and motioned for me to continue trying on clothes. It went on like that for about seven minutes and soon, Kakashi and I were walking again. I had a hold on his hand because people kept staring and hid slightly. He would squeeze my hand reassuringly every now and then. Eventually, we reached a little house and he stopped to unlock the door. We stepped in and a lot of dogs surrounded us. I squeaked and hid behind Kakashi, hiding my face in his pant leg.

"Alright, alright. Back up a bit. Your scaring the kid." A voice called. I hid further and felt a hand on my head. I looked up to see scarecrow looking at me.

"It's alright Aiko. Remember? These are good dogs. They only bite bad people and they know you're not a bad person." He said. I nodded and looked at a little dog. He had a headband on his head and a jacket. He stared up at me as I walked up to him slowly and reached a hand out.

"Yo" it said. I froze and looked at scarecrow.

"It talked" I stated. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at me.

"Yeah. Some of them can." He said slowly. I looked back at the small dog and sat in front of him.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"I'm Pakkun. And I suppose you must be Aiko. It's nice to meet you" He l said. I scratched his ear softly and looked at scarecrow.

"He's nice" I said. He chuckled at me and nodded.

"Yeah, he is. How about we go to the living room and you can talk some more." He said. I nodded and stood, picking up pakkun too and followed scarecrow to another room. We reached a room with a couch, tv, and small table. He sat on the couch so I sat beside him, petting Pakkun. He looked up at me curiously.

"So kid, why were you so scared of us when we came?" He asked. I looked down at him.

"Well, when I was about seven, I was walking in the forest. I guess I passed some guys home and he made his dogs attack me. One got my arm and two got my leg but I pulled away. These are the marks I got." I said. I pulled up my sleeve to show a long scar running from my collar bone to my elbow. I then rolled up my pant leg and showed them two scars that went from my knee to my shin. Their eyes widened at them and I felt a nudge on my leg. I looked down to see a really large dog that looked like one of the ones that attacked me so long ago. I hid m face in pakkuns fur and peaked at him. The large dog laid his head on my legs lazily. I reached out a cautios hand and pat his head. He gave me a doggy smile and I smiled back softly. I brought my hand from pakkuns fur and pet the large dog. I turned to scarecrow.

"I like your dogs. They're nice." I said. He smiled at me and ruffled my hair.

"Why thank you. Now lets get you to bed. It's getting late." He said. I nodded and yawn slightly.

"Can Pakkun come with me?" I asked. He nodded his head and I stood up. He led me to an empty room with a bed, closet, and desk.

"This is going to be your room. Here is your clothes. Good night Aiko." He said.

"Goodnight scarecrow" I said softly. I heard him chuckle quietly as he closed the door. Pakkun turned around as I changed into some black and silver pajamas and I picked him up when I finished. I laid on the bed and held him to me as I fell into a comfortable sleep.