章 66: Memories From The Past

*Swish*

A metal coin tore through the air before landing in Naruto's palm, and in the next second, it split into ten equal parts, which were then sliced into ten equal pieces each.

A total of one hundred pieces were thrown sideways. His wind chakra transformation had reached a whole new level after years of practice, day and night, for almost fifteen hours a day.

Adding the cherry to the cake, his three clones were training non-stop at his apartment.

The same went for his fire style, which he preferred to call Flame Jutsu. How he used the fire and wind elements differed from the common practices of the shinobi world. At first, it was very hard to control them, but as time went on, the results were also phenomenal.

As the saying goes, the harder and smarter you work, the better the end results will be.

With proper guidance and teachings, combined with his innate talent, he, at the age of ten, was the best wind and fire style user in the entire Elemental Nations. The scary part was that nobody knew about him.

Naruto walked the path paved for him by his angel to reach the pinnacle of the shinobi world, and this was just the beginning.

The said angel walked beside him with a sweet smile on her face and hand in hand, tilting her head she sweetly asked, "So where are we going, Naruto?"

"To the ramen shop, old man. It's been months since I visited him. Maybe he won't let me in this time, the first time might have been some fluke, haha," he laughed and walked towards Ichiraku Ramen.

"Oh… you like his food," she asked.

Naruto put a finger on his chin, thinking about something, "Hmm, it was okay, not even close to the food you make for me," he honestly replied.

Suddenly, after remembering the food, a memory from the past flooded into his mind: the first time he met Hinata, her landing like a butterfly, giving him her tiffin box. That was the first time he tasted something so good, heavenly even; the taste of that food was still fresh on his tongue to this date.

He remembered how she told him her name and asked in return. While other children distanced themselves from him, she, on the other hand, asked him to be friends with her.

The memory of her standing against the two older kids who wanted to beat him, she protected him while taking the beating.

Although this was all planned by her, and the two kids were none other than Ren and Ritsu, and the blood on her mouth was the tomato sauce, he didn't know this. But in the end, this doesn't matter; what matters is that she stood for him while no one else did.

After that day, she showed him water jutsu and flame jutsu. At that moment, she looked so cool; he wanted to be just like her. She then taught him about chakra, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu, all about elements, the uses of chakra, using kunai with elements, and a lot of jutsus.

She basically imparted all of her knowledge that was suitable for him. His bizarre to bizarre questions were answered with a smile, as if she knew everything.

Naruto was like a sponge and a curious cat, and she was like a bottomless ocean.

The month he spent on the streets, she gave him warm clothes and healthy food, and she even sewed cool clothes for him.

And from the praying eyes, anything he wanted to play, she played with him, sometimes making sand houses, sometimes making teas.

She always brought her sisters with her; they were tied behind her back.

Sometimes he felt they were just like him, always so energetic. Even after hours of playing, they never seemed too tired, with curiosity and mischief in their eyes.

Unlike other kids, Hanbi and Arya treated him like their big brother. Sometimes destroying his sand house, sometimes sitting on his shoulder while holding his face, playing hide and seek in his small apartment, and making messy paintings of him.

They ate meals together, and he also liked to stretch their cheeks. Sometimes they played 'house house', where Hinata played the role of the drunken husband and he becoming a submissive and meek wife, while Hanabi and Arya became their children.

He didn't know why Hinata seemed to enjoy this game very much. Then she put both Hanbi and Arya on the table, naked, and dressed them like dolls.

Sometimes roles were reversed, but one thing was sure: he enjoyed every moment of it.

On each of his birthdays, they celebrated with cake and lots of other fun stuff, and every year she taught him a forbidden jutsu.

In the academy, she talked with red chakra strings, and he always felt thrilled that nobody knew.

On the other hand, the Hokage visited him every month, giving him money that could afford only a week of groceries. His grandfatherly smile irritated him to no end because he could see through it.

Every time he asked why the villagers hated him, although he knew the truth and it didn't bother him, what bothered him was the Hokage's answers. He didn't tell him that a giant fox was living inside him, and on top of that, he asked him to be nice to the villagers and forgive them, saying that they were idiots.

When he tried to ask about his parents, the old man made a sad face and told him that he didn't know them.

Just thinking about the Hokage made his mood sour.

But his lips arced upwards in a smile when he remembered his time with Hinata. Her importance in his life was like an unshakable mountain, without her, he was nothing.

She gave him everything he had now. And if the situation arrived, he would give her everything he had, even his life. She was too important to him.

"Why are you smiling like that?" he woke up from his memories.

He looked at her, his grip tightening around her hand. "I just felt like it," he replied.

She nodded to him and walked towards where the shop was supposed to be located.

Naruto raised his eyebrow and looked at the empty space; there was no Ichiraku Ramen.

"Where is the ramen shop?" he asked with a confused face, vaguely remembering that he had visited the shop months ago.

"Who knows, maybe it was just your imagination," she told him honestly.

"Really? Maybe you are right, or they moved somewhere else," he shrugged and walked away from there.

The shop was suspicious to him, and the food wasn't even good, so he ignored it just like he ignored the rest of the villagers. It was just a shop, nothing more, nothing less.

Both of them walked towards their apartment. Suddenly, Naruto looked at Hinata and asked, "What really are you?"

She tilted her head and looked into his eyes, touching his face and smiling sweetly. "I am just your imagination," she replied.

"You know it, don't you?" she asked.

Naruto nodded; he knew this from the very beginning but asked again, "What really are you?"

He felt someone hugging him from behind, and then he heard her voice in his ear, "I am an angel walking with you."

"Hmmm," he nodded to her.

"And I am not saying it out of nothing; I am saying this because this is how you see me," she said as she walked beside him.

"I am just your imagination. I talk like her, I look like her, I speak like her because you want it this way. You want me to be just like her," she told him the truth of her whole existence.

Naruto felt a poke on his chest where his heart was located. He looked at her; she was in front of him. "The moment your heart wavers, the moment I become irrelevant to you, or your liking towards me lessens, I will disappear forever, and I am not talking about myself," she said.

Hearing her say that he would forget her, for a split second, unknown to him, his eyes turned dangerous red with a slit in them. The nearby people felt a murderous intent down their spines, but it was gone in the next second. "I will not," he quietly whispered.

"I know," she smiled and walked away towards their home.