(A/N): I don't own the photo or video. The video is a Naruto AMV Headstrong by Trapt. Please vote and comment! It makes me happy!

~Shikamaru's POV~

It's been two years since that day and we're six years old now. Naruto lives with us now, and there are no more beatings. Not when Kaa-san and Tou-san are always keeping an eye on him.

He was so shocked when we got him presents for his birthday - he had thought we'd kick him out of the house or something. I wanted to scream, shout, punch someone. Anything to make them pay for what they did to him - for traumatizing him so terribly, so early in life.

It was about two weeks after I brought Naruto home that I started training.

Kaa-san nearly had a heart attack and Tou-san thought he was hallucinating. Why? Because I woke up early, of my own volition, and trained myself into the ground.

And then I got back up and did it again and again and again.

I remember when Tou-san asked me why I did it.

~Flashback~

"Son, why do you train? Why do you fight so hard?" Tou-san asked me solemnly, staring at me with sunken, hollow eyes. I knew he didn't want me to be a prodigy - to turn out twisted like that  Orochimaru guy or something.

"Because I will never let anyone hurt my precious people again," I said, matching his haunted eyes with a determined stare. "Because I will die before I let them hurt Naruto again."

Tou-san was silent for a while.

"... I'm glad that he is precious to you, my son." He told me, rising from his seat. "Keep doing what you're doing and you'll rise above the rest -  perhaps even myself one day. I trust in you to keep your precious people safe."

"I know, Tou-san. I know."

~Flashback End~

My parents had taken to teaching Naruto. Kaa-san taught him to read, to write, and taught him about maths, history, and chakra control. Tou-san taught him strategy games, Jutsu theory, calligraphy/Fuinjutsu, and other such things.

I helped Naruto with Taijutsu and whatever else I happened to be working on at the time.

But today, we weren't training.

Today was the day we entered the academy.

~

I led Naruto to the academy, the red-haired boy sticking close behind me. We took a shortcut through the forest, walking peacefully until Naruto alerted me to a commotion nearby.

We sneakily went to investigate, closing in on the source if the noise.

A group of older boys, third years probably, surrounded a girl our age. The boy's had no distinctive features, but the girl had dark blue hair and pale lavender eyes with no pupils - marking her as a Hyuuga.

"Freak!" Dumbass #1, as I so dutifully dubbed him, crowed.

"Stay away from us, you creepy-eyed monster!" Dumbass #2 remarked.

"Why don't you just die! You're so weak, you'd never live to be a ninja anyway, freak!" Dumbass #3 snapped, glaring at the girl.

Naruto shook with rage at their harsh words, but I held him back. He glared at me accusingly, but I only shook my head.

'Just watch.' I mouthed. Naruto frowned but did so anyway.

The Hyuuga heiress - who else could she be? - looked around cautiously, before looking back at the Dumbass Trio. Her face went from scared to angry.

"Hakke Juuroku Sho(Eight Trigrams: Sixteen Palms)!" She cried. The three boys went down without a fight.

The girl huffed and fell to her knees, sweat dripping from her brow. Mild chakra exhaustion, I noted.

I let Naruto go to her, staying in the trees.

"Sugoi(cool/awesome)!" He cried out, ignoring the unconscious boys. The young heiress flinched, looking up in a startled fashion.

"W-What...?" She whispered. "W-Who are y-you?"

"Hajimemashite! Watashi Wa Naruto, 'ttebayo! (Nice to meet you! I'm Naruto, ya know!)" Naruto said, smiling brightly.

Blink. Blink blink.

"... Oh." She mumbled, pink tinting her face. "H-Hajimemashite... W-Watashi Wa... H-Hyuuga Hinata...(N-Nice to meet you... I-I'm... H-Hyuuga Hinata...)"

Why is she pretending to be meek and shy? I asked myself. Naruto, seemingly hearing my thoughts, spoke up.

"Eto... Why are you pretending to be shy?" He asked bluntly.

"H-Huh?!" Hinata jolted in surprise. "W-What d-do you mean?"

"I know a mask when I see one," Naruto claimed bluntly, going from bright and cheerful to solemn and understanding. "I've worn one often enough, dattebayo."

Hinata's face took on a defeated look.

"If I act weak then my little sister Hanabi will be made Clan Head and won't receive the Kejido Tori no Fuin(Caged Bird Seal), which would condemn her to the slave-like life of a branch member." She said after a moment, stutter nowhere in sight. "And I probably won't receive it because I'm the firstborn child. So, in acting weak, I'm protecting my sister. That, and I don't want to be in an arranged marriage with some stuck-up prick I've never met."

I decided it was time for me to make my appearance.

"That is a very intelligent and kind thing of you to do, Hinata-san," I said as she turned to me. "But do tell me you still train, right?"

"Of course!" She exclaimed, an offended look on her face. "And who might you be?"

"Nara Shikamaru. Naruto here is my adopted brother." I introduced. She nodded, no longer wary of me.

"Hey! You're going to the academy, right Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked. He received a positive answer. "Then let's all be friends! You can come over to our place after the academy if you've nothing better to do!"

"I'm fine with that. And Kaa-san and Tou-san won't mind." I put in my opinion at her hopeful glance.

"Well..... I don't see why not." She decided. "But I have to tell my Okaa-san first, so... How about I meet you at that ramen place, Ichiraku's, a half hour after school lets out?"

"Sounds like a plan, Hinata-chan!" Naruto said, grinning. He pulled the girl to her feet and the three of us set off for the academy.

I have a feeling that this is a good thing, our meeting. I thought to myself, watching Naruto and Hinata walk just in front of me - hand in hand and chatting away. If we become a Genin team, I think we'll give our Jounin-sensei a run for their money.

"My favorite food is Miso ramen, but I love all ramen and food in general!" Naruto declared with a genuine smile lighting up his features.

"My favorite food is cinnamon buns, but I like all baked goods!" Hinata replied kindly, also smiling.

Yeah... I think well get along great!

~Three Weeks Later~

"Hinata-chan... Uh, there's something I need to tell you..." Naruto mumbled, and Deja vu hit me like a brick.

"What is it, Naruto-kun?" She asked, smiling lightly at him.

"Well... Ya know the Kyuubi attack and how the Yondaime defeated it?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Well, the only way to defeat a Bijuu is to seal it..."

"Uh-huh."

"In a newborn baby..."

"Okay..."

"And that newborn baby... was, well....." Naruto took a deep breath and steeled himself. "That baby was me."

"Alright." Hinata picked up another cinnamon bun and started eating as if an S-class secret wasn't just revealed. She offered Naruto one of her pastries.

"Y-You're not going to tell me to go away? You don't hate me?" Naruto asked confusedly, a skeptical look on his face.

"Tch, as if something so trivial as that could make me despise and shun one of my only two best friends." Hinata scoffed, a playful glint in her eyes. "You don't think me so shallow, do you?"

"O-Of course not!"

"Then let's eat, shall we?"

~

And that is how Nara Shikamaru and Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto became The Best of Friends with Hyuuga Hinata.

And that is where our story starts...

With a trio of mask-wearing friends, a strong bond, and a little bit of love.