Tale of A Golden Girl

Healing

Minato's eyes bulged as two chakra arms burst from Naruto's back and went straight for the waistline of his student's pants.

"Naruto don't you dare-"

Kakashi's snarl was cut off, and he was forced to dodged around the arms with impressive agility. Unfortunately, the arms just kept spamming new arms and eventually overwhelmed the boy. Two of the many present arms took a vengeful hold of the boy's pants, and viciously yanked them up.

Minato choked on his own tongue as he watched Kakashi's grey eyes nearly pop out of his head as he was given the most heinous wedgie the blonde teen had ever seen. The boy was being held at least five feet off of the ground by his underwear.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Naruto's evil laugher could be heard over the pained wails of one mortified Hatake.

"I hope you can visit Kakashi while he's training sometime." Minato said. "It's been... interesting meeting you, Naruto-chan." Minato grinned, ruffling a brooding Kakashi's silver hair before waving goodbye, and leaving off the front porch of the Hatake compound.

"Bye bye Minato-san!" Naruto chirped, waving at the blonde teen's back.

Kakashi closed the front door, and stormed off, still sore (in more ways than one) about getting a wedgie.

The boy was much too dignified to slam his bedroom door, but by the feel of his chakra as she followed behind him and entered her own room, Naruto could tell that he wanted to.

Naruto closed her door with a snicker, and promptly burst into tears.

The little blonde leaned heavily against the door of her borrowed room, and slowly slid down as her eyes stung persistently.

Naruto had always been good at pretending.

As a boy, she played pranks, and started fights, and generally just spread mayhem. She did it all with a smile, trying to forget why she was doing it in the first place. And the reason, the biggest reason for all her troublemaking, was to forget her loneliness.

She had wanted the attention, to stop being ignored in her original youth, yes, but wanting to be happy played a big part in her pranks. The high she got from pranking was real. She actually had fun when she played pranks, but that happiness was shallow. It only lasted for a short time, because she always returned home to an empty apartment and her own bleak thoughts.

Naruto wasn't really alone this time around, with Kakashi and Saki-chan... but... she was still lonely. She couldn't tell them her problems. She couldn't tell them seeing her father had brought back flashes of the Fourth War.

She couldn't tell Kakashi and Sakumo how Neji's blood soaked into her jumpsuit, a splinter in his back meant for her stabbing him through his middle.

She couldn't tell them how she had watched Kaguya reduce Obito to ashes right before her eyes, after she had finally gotten through to him.

She couldn't tell them how she took part in uniting all the great shinobi nations in their fight for peace.

She couldn't tell them how much it hurt waking up everyday and realizing that the people most precious to her were not there.

Naruto pulled down her mask, clapping her little hands over her trembling lips and tried to choke down her sobs.

She cried so hard she felt a pain in her stomach. But it could not compare to the helpless ache she felt in her heart.

Somewhere in the back of Naruto's mind, she wondered how she had ended up on the floor, lying on her side.

Her tears were the only warmness she felt as her body shook.