A Child Just Like You

Uzumaki Hayashi woke to sunlight streaming through the gap in the window.

He opened his eyes and stared at the pink lace canopy above him for a full ten seconds.

Fine. He admitted he had ended up sleeping in the bed after all.

Last night, Uzumaki Hayashi had spent ages wrestling with himself.

He had originally planned to sleep on the floor, but it was so hard that it left his back aching.

Then he had tried making a bed on the floor. He had laid everything out, but whenever he closed his eyes, he could feel the canopy swaying above him in the moonlight, that soft bed sitting there, tempting him.

Just lie down for a moment.

That was what he had told himself.

But once he lay down, gender, misunderstandings, dresses-none of it mattered anymore. His thoughts wandered for a while, and then he fell asleep.

The bed was innocent.

That was all he could tell himself for now.

Uzumaki Hayashi climbed out of bed, stretched luxuriously, walked to the window, and threw it open.

The morning air rushed in, carrying the cool freshness of dew mixed with the smell of breakfast from someone's yard. In the distance, the four faces on Hokage Rock stood out clearly in the morning sun.

Farther away, people were already moving through the village streets, and noise rose from the marketplace.

And just like that, a new day began.

He leaned on the windowsill and took a deep breath.

Nice.

Compared with sleeping under bridges and covering himself with straw mats in that run-down little town, this place was paradise.

Remembering that he had to report to the Ninja Academy today, he dared not linger. He hastily washed his face, rinsed his mouth with cold water, and headed out.

Two people stood outside his door.

Chunin Tanabe and Chunin Iwai stood on either side like guardian statues. Who knew how long they had been there? Chunin Tanabe was halfway through a yawn and had yet to close his mouth.

"You two..."

Uzumaki Hayashi had barely started speaking when Chunin Tanabe lunged forward, grabbed his wrist, and dragged him away.

"Save it! We're going to be late!"

"Hey-"

Uzumaki Hayashi stumbled a couple of steps. By the time he recovered, the two Chunin had him sandwiched between them and were sprinting out of the street.

The morning wind whistled past his ears, blowing his red hair all over his face.

"Wait, wait, wait-what's gotten into you two this early in the morning?"

"Run first!" Chunin Iwai kept it brief.

Chunin Tanabe ran, panted, and complained all at once:

"We got here before dawn! We've been standing outside your door for almost two hours!"

"Then why didn't you come in and wake me up?"

"Come in?" Chunin Tanabe's expression suddenly turned strange, somewhere between sheepish and awkward. Even his steps slowed for a moment. "We couldn't do that. It wouldn't be appropriate, wouldn't be appropriate..."

"A grown man..." He swallowed the rest of the sentence and changed tack. "Anyway, it wouldn't be appropriate!"

His cryptic remarks left Uzumaki Hayashi baffled.

"What are you even talking about?"

"When we got back last night, we saw the form you filled out when you entered the village..." Chunin Tanabe freed one hand and rubbed the back of his neck. "The one that old man at the gate wrote up. We both read it..."

"Man, what a mess. We kept calling you a boy the whole way here, and you... you never corrected us..."

The form?

Uzumaki Hayashi's heart skipped a beat.

What exactly had that old man at registration written in the gender field?

Then he thought of the room full of pink wallpaper and that little row of dresses with their tags still attached-

Suddenly, he had a very bad feeling.

Half a day earlier.

Last night, in the Hokage's office.

Iruka had been summoned from his dormitory by the ANBU.

The messenger had arrived without warning, knocked on his door, and said only, "The Third would like to see you," before silently leading the way.

Iruka followed him through the deserted corridors, still weary from preparing lessons under lamplight. Dawn was only a few hours away, classes at the Ninja Academy would resume, and he was only halfway through his lesson plan.

No lights were on in the Hokage's office. When he pushed the door open, he saw that the crystal ball on the desk had already gone dark. The Third sat behind the desk. Without any pleasantries, he took a file from a drawer and slid it toward him.

"Take a look at this."

Iruka accepted it with both hands and read it by the light.

Name: Uzumaki Hayashi. Age: twelve. Gender: female.

There was no photograph.

Uzumaki.

Iruka's heart gave a little jump when he saw that name.

There was a child with the surname Uzumaki in the class he taught.

Could Naruto have a relative? If that was true, the boy wouldn't have to be all alone anymore...

"You're wondering whether he's related to Naruto?"

The Third's gentle voice interrupted his thoughts.

Iruka froze, then looked a little embarrassed. "Yes."

"This child does have a connection to Naruto." The Third shook his head. "But not the kind you're imagining."

"He is an orphan of the Uzumaki Clan."

Iruka's grip on the file tightened.

The Uzumaki Clan's Uzushio Village.

Hadn't it already been... all those years ago?

"Three years of searching, and this was the only child we found." The Third looked at him, speaking each word distinctly. "He only arrived in the village yesterday. I intend to place him in your class."

"Iruka, I want you to treat this child just as you treat Naruto."

"Like you, he grew up all alone."

The Third stood, came around the desk, and walked up to him. Raising a hand, he gave Iruka's shoulder a firm pat.

Iruka lowered his eyes to the name "Uzumaki Hayashi" on the file and said nothing for a long while.

Many years ago, under this same kind of light, this same old man had rested a hand on his head.

Back then, he had just lost his parents. By day, he ran wild at school, causing trouble; at night, he returned to an empty home alone. It was this old man who had told him that Konoha was his home, and everyone in the village was his family.

It had taken him a long time to emerge from that empty home.

Now it was his turn to offer someone else warmth.

"You can count on me, Third Hokage."

Iruka bowed solemnly.

"I'll treat this child well, just as I do Naruto."

The Third smiled, the wrinkles on his face easing one by one.

"Good. I've always had faith in you. Off you go."

Iruka bowed and backed toward the door. As his hand touched it, he glanced back once more.

The file still lay open on the desk, the name "Uzumaki Hayashi" resting quietly in the light.

He etched that name firmly into his memory.

And so, by now, Iruka had been waiting outside the Ninja Academy for nearly an hour.

Students entered the school one after another. Iruka smiled and greeted them while watching the far end of the street.

A few parents he knew stopped to chat. He answered them, but his eyes remained fixed on the corner.

He had read that name on the list over and over last night.

Uzumaki Hayashi.

What would a child of the Uzumaki Clan look like?

There was no photograph in the file, so he could only guess. But he had heard that members of the Uzumaki Clan all had red hair...

The sun climbed a little higher. Iruka raised a hand to shade his eyes and was about to check the time again-

In the distance, the faint sound of running footsteps drew closer.

Amid those footsteps, a wisp of red hair sprang into view from around the corner, flashing in the morning light.

Here he was.

Iruka narrowed his eyes.