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Photographs lay scattered across a cold, wooden floor--depicting happy faces enjoying even happier times. Most of them contained nothing but small families basking in the company of others, although a few were evidence of large family gatherings. Look closer, however, and you notice that all the people shared something (rather important) in common--they were Uzumaki. Yet, as the sprinkled photos lay there, the morning sun that broke through the drawn curtains danced across their surfaces...almost illuminating them, and bringing them to full color.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The clock chimed away as time slowly progressed, the young Uzumaki boy staring at the ceiling from his bed. Hatako normally didn't spend this much time in his room, locked up, but today was a very different day from most. Earlier, he had been rummaging through pictures from his past--photographs from when he was a mere infant. However, the photographs also portrayed a different time in Hatako's life--a time in which he was surrounded by various members of family (save his father). Before the great extermination that had taken place in the Land of Tea, the Uzumaki clan had found great refuge there--that was until there was a shift in ideology in which called for the absolute riddance of the Uzumaki people.

But that was a long time ago, and now it was really only him and his mother that Hatako was able to call his immediate family. While he was sure there were other Uzumaki out there, he didn't know who they were and they equally didn't know he existed as well. Also, it's very unlikely they share any form of immediate blood with him--because while they may come from the same blood, that doesn't mean they come from the same lineage of clan members. Nonetheless, having looked through the photos had left Hatako's heart heavy with grief and anguish. He hadn't really known those that were once his family, but he still felt some kind of connection to them--because despite the fact he couldn't remember them, he knew that they loved him and he loved them.

"It's funny...," Hatako mumbled, his wet, emerald eyes gazing into the ceiling as he contemplated hundreds of thousands of things. "Out of everyone that could have survived that atrocity back in the Land of Tea--it ended up being my mother and I." said Hatako, guilt plaguing his voice he moved to sit at the edge of his bed, his eyes and head now staring at the ground below him. "There must be a reason...right?" the young Uzumaki questioned himself, as he got up from his bed and went to put on his shinobi sandals.

As Hatako walked out of his room, and into the rest of the apartment, he could hear his mother singing as she stood in the kitchen washing dishes. Ever since he was a child, Hatako listened to his mother sing--it was comforting, and it was something that never got old for him. Wiping the wetness from his eyes, and a smile now stretching widely across his face, Hatako went into the kitchen.

"Hey, mom..." Hatako said, as he walked over to his mother and rested his chin on her shoulder as she continued to wash the dishes by hand.

"Yes, dear?" his mother replied lovingly, as she continued to hum the song she had been singing, but listening intently to her son.

"I'm going to go take a stroll out in the village. Is there anything you needed?" Hatako asked his mom, cheerfully as he tried to hide the fact he had just been sulking in his room.

"I don't think so," his mother said as she stopped washing the dishes, turning around to give her son a hug. "Just be careful when you go out, you're all that I have left. Ok?"

Closing his eyes, Hatako returned his mother's hug as he felt his eyes beginning to water again--but he didn't let them. He had to be stronger for his mother, especially when he knew that she was all she had left. "I always come home, mom." replied Hatako, as he smiled and backed way from his mom slowly. "I'll be back around dinner time!" he said cheerfully as he made his way towards the door, desperately needing to get out of the house so that he had a bigger space to think.

"And Hatako--it's OK to cry." his mother said, right before he went to shut the door behind him. When she said this, Hatako nearly stopped dead in his tracks, as if about to stop and play dead. These words struck a tone with him, and resonated in him--they comforted him.

"Thanks, mom." Hatako said, a smile once again finding its way onto his face as he shut the door behind him, and ventured off into the village.

Having finally managed to get out of the house, Hatako found himself sluggishly moseying around the village as he tried to find a quiet thinking space. Fortunately enough for him, the weather was quite nice and suitable, the sun playfully dancing with the clouds that littered the baby blue sky. Therefore, good weather meant that finding a thinking spot outdoors was a lot more foreseeable than needing to go to some sort of establishment. That being said, how hard could it be to find somewhere quiet outdoors? Easy, right?

Well, nearly half an hour passed (what actually felt like hours), and still the young Uzumaki hadn't found a place to call his "thinking spot". Most of the hot springs were cluttered with people, and a lot of the training grounds were infested with young shinobi and academy students looking to better their skills on a lovely, sunny day. Ready to give up hope, Hatako look towards the sky with a deep sigh escaping his lips. As his eyes scanned the skies above, he caught glimpse of the Hokage Mountain. Slowly, his eyes ran across the many faces that decorated the iconic rock. Taking a moment, he studied each of the faces and tried to recall the names in which were associated with them.

"Yamato Namikaze, Tsunade Senju, Kakashi Hatake," Hatako thought aloud as he played trivia with himself.

"Naruto...Uzumaki" said Hatako, aloud, as he stopped on the old legend's face. It wasn't often that Hatako reminded himself that he shared a name with one of the greatest shinobi that had ever lived. Not only this, but he was a part of the legend's legacy--seeing as he was, in fact, a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf.

His eyes fixated now on Hokage Mountain, Hatako ran full speed towards the faces, dashing around villagers until making his way to the rooftops to make his journey a bit--easier? Nonetheless, he found himself traversing up the face of the mountain (towards the actual Hokage monuments) as quick as he had decided that this is where he'd choose to be his "thinking place" today. When he finally reached the face of Uzumaki, Naruto, Nanadaime Hokage, he stopped and sat there--looking out upon the village.

"It's even more beautiful from up here..." Hatako whispered to himself, as he gazed out upon the entire village--basking in its beauty.

((1210/2000))

Never had the village looked so beautiful as it basked in the evening sun. For many decades, almost a century, the Village Hidden in the Leaves had managed to grow prosperously in the Land of Fire--being one of the greatest villages in the shinobi world. For Hatako, it was sometimes hard to believe that he was a part of this--that he was included in this legacy that the founding fathers of the village had left behind...to live on even after their deaths. What was even harder for Hatako to believe was that one of his ancestor's faces were carved into this monument to the world.

"Maybe one day I can grace this monument with my face.." Hatako thought to himself, his eyes laying their gaze upon the rooftops of the hundreds of buildings that made up the village. It wasn't everyday you were able to gaze upon the village's infrastructure so clearly--so not only was this a awestruck-moment for Hatako, but it was also an educational one.

Slowly, the sun began to make its way across the sky as the minutes ticked by, and the hour started to give birth to a new one. Although not much time had passed, the peace and serenity of the mountaintop made it seem as if time were moving at nearly the speed of light--but Hatako had no explanation for this. Instead, he decided to really not give a frick, for once, and just enjoy his time to himself as he stretched out more atop Naruto Uzumaki's monument.

"For once, I actually--" Hatako was cut short of mumbling something to himself when a stranger suddenly appeared, greeting his ears with a boisterous introduction.

Quickly, Hatako's eyes darted up only to find a rather small girl. Although she looked rather healthy, he was a bit stunned by the girl's sickishly white skin--something he hadn't ever really seen before. However, he figured that given her demeanor, that it was possibly some kind of clan or hereditary abnormality that she was unfortunate to have inherited? Or maybe it was just Hatako's imagination, seeing as he wore black rather often and maybe seeing such a hue of white surprised him--seeing as it wasn't a shade of color he was familiar with in his daily life (yikes).

Anyhow, as Hatako sat there and observed her appearance, he couldn't help but also chime in on the rambling she was doing while she, complicatedly, introduced herself to him...asking what seemed like a hundred questions before actually getting to what she was wanting to ask. However, before Hatako could even answer the question she had asked him, she seemingly started to ramble about his wardrobe...saying that he could benefit from a dash of color in it. But even then, before he could even attest to her statement she told herself to shut-up.

"Well...that's interesting." thought the Uzumaki, a somewhat fake and genuine smile appearing on his face as he playfully scratched the back of his head.

"Well, to answer your first question, I'm Uzumaki, Hatako. It's time to meet you, errr, Orochi, Hiromu." Hatako said as got up, extending his arm out to shake the young kunoichi's hand.

"I thought I'd be alone up here today. What brings you here, if you don't mind me asking?"

((1764//2000))

As people of this village usually were, he seemed taken aback by her appearance. His eyes widened slightly as he gave her a once over. He may have also been startled by the loud way she’d greeted him when he was so clearly off in his own thoughts. In hindsight that was probably quite rude of her. The morning was quite beautiful, maybe her intrusion was quite unwelcome, but there was no going back now. Besides, maybe she could make a friend today. Maybe it wasn’t too late for that. She studied his expression, he seemed surprised, and curious, but he didn’t seem angry, for which she was grateful. She might be angry, if she was in a bad mood and was rudely interrupted like that.

Maybe she should work on being a little more forgiving. There was a lot she had to work on. Sometimes she just felt like she didn’t even know who she was. She had an ideal person in her head all the time of who she wanted to be. Untill then she just wasn’t good enough, she wasn’t nice enough, she wasn’t attractive enough and she wasn’t strong enough. This kind of thinking was motivational, but it was also harmful.

Once all of her uncontrollable rambling was done, and Himoru had fallen quiet, The young man spoke. His name was Uzumaki Hatako.

Uzumaki, huh She thought to herself That name... Like Uzumaki Naruto-sama, the great hero of the village, the Nanadaime Hokage...

She frowned to herself very slightly jealous. What a name to come from! What a legacy to be born into! What a legendary family history and Clan history he must have! If only she were something special. She was just a stray child left on a stairway with a name and strange in-human features that everyone seemed to think odd. She supposed, in more ways than just her appearance she was odd. She shook the expression off of her face as soon as she caught herself making it, and replaced it with a casual smile “Good to meet you too Uzumaki-san. Feel free to call me by my first name if you like.” She said brightly. Did he come here for motivation then, too look at the hokage with the same name as him, to bask in the morning sun and watch the village come to life? Just as she was speculating he asked her the same question.

“Hm.” She had to think for a moment. It was a spontaneous decision. Her room was suffocating her, Konoha’s streets didn’t make her feel any better and she wasn’t to climb higher and higher to escape everything. To escape her loneliness, and to To look down on everything as if she were important to everyone. Aslo she kind of wanted to let herself be kinda sad over that stupid dumb fish that had died on her. It was only a fish, nothing special, just pretty to look at. But she grew attached to little things too easily.

But that would never do. She could not tell him that. So she shrugged her shoulders and looked out at the beautiful view in front of her “I didn’t want to be in my room, and I didn’t want to be in amidst the crowds yet, and I didn’t feel like going to the training grounds yet...” She began “And this seemed like a good spot to avoid all of that and look out at the view.” She chuckled “Also my fish died.” She laughed at the silliness of that statement, hoping that her laughter would life the mood probably created by her lack of filter. “So I don’t usually come here or anything.” Her face gave way to a real smile as she looked out over the village she belonged to “But I think I might do it more often. It somehow makes me feel... motivated and calm.” She relisted she sounded a little too old for her actual age here. She’d Not really grown up the same way as other kids and living alone most her life, in a big orphanage the rest. She’d had to grow up to do well here.

She let the silence fall between them again and then turned the question on him “How about you? Do you come up here a lot?” She asked the Uzumaki boy “Why are you here today?” It was fair, he asked her, now she got to ask him. She was curious what he would say. He didn’t seem like the type to give away a lot of details, where as Hiromu just went on and on. But she was quite enjoying talking to someone other than herself today. Even if he said very little, she wouldn’t mind. If there was one thing Romu was good at, it was keeping a conversation going.

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