So hey, guys. This is my first story in the Naruto fandom, and I'm incredibly anxious as I am happy. This is hardly your normal fic. Naruto is a lot different and so is many other characters. While I have the intention of making this a Kakashi/Naruto story, it may take a while to get there. In this story Naruto is in a lot of emotional pain and has a bad time in the village. He's not entirely light, because of his background. I won't make him more powerful than what we've seen in the anime, because that's honestly so boring. It will content a bunch of triggers, so be warned.
Pain. That was the only thing he could focus on. Excruciating pain, going from the tip of his toes to the last strand of blond hair. Had he been able to snap out his trance, he could've heard the gut-wrenching screams leaving his mouth— alas, Naruto wasn't able to see what was right before him.
He couldn't smell anything. In fact, he doubted he was actually breathing. Even though his fingers tugged at his own clothes almost maniacally, his brain failed to register the sensation.
Was this Hell? It had to be.
He couldn't do this. Someone, please kill him. Please, please kill him...
Suddenly he saw a shock of raven hair and—
Naruto woke up with a shaky gasp, reaching out instinctively. His eyes were still shut tightly, and he panicked when he couldn't open them right away. Was the still dreaming? No, his body was just fucking with him.
He rubbed his eyes tiredly and looked at the clock on the bedside table, having to blink a few times before actually registering the hour in his mind.
4:33 am.
The blonde groaned aloud at the ridiculousness of the situation and forced himself to relax on the bed, fingers flexing ever so slightly as if to reassure himself that he was indeed alright. Living alone was a heavy cross to bear, even more so at the tender age of 12. Not hat he had ever met his parents— all the boy knew about them was that they sacrificed themselves for Konoha.
The same village that now seemed to despise his very existence. The freak, they'd call him. It's like they forgot he even had a name.
Naruto Uzumaki.
What had been a loud, rebellious kid was now a tame one, barely speaking when asked directly and constantly avoiding those eyes.
Gods, those hateful eyes...
His entire body seemed to shake at the mere memory, and baby blue eyes were soon filled with hot tears he so desperately didn't want to shed.
He was so lame, honestly.
Naruto rolled onto his side and curled up into a small ball, lower lip trapped between white teeth so hard he soon tasted the familiar copper in his mouth. While no Konoha elder had hit him, the youth was unforgiving and positively ruthless. At first he had tried to fight the hate with pranks and "good laughs", but he soon learned that it did little to nothing to ease the hatred in so many hearts. He had learned to fear the hands and the eyes to the point Iruka-sensei had to buy groceries for him just so he would stop starving himself because yes, the now genin was that terrified. While he could defend himself fairly well, five against one was clearly a lost cause.
Things at the Academy were hardly better. While he was ignored by most, the only "friend" he had was ashamed to be seen in public in him, and Naruto thought that was more hurtful than being pushed to the side. Shikamaru always apologized, but there was only so much his heart could handle. On random days, he'd bump into a weird kid named Rock Lee, who only smiled at him and gave him a "cool guy pose" as if to encourage him to hold on.
You can do it, the fire of eternal youth shall never perish!
... Or something weird like that. Honestly, no one knew what the Hell Lee was talking about most of the time.
Not that Naruto cared. As long as he didn't said anything hurtful...
Which reminded him why he'd had so much trouble falling asleep that night. The memory made dread to settle in the pit of his stomach and he gulped, cold sweat appearing on his forehead.
Tomorrow he was to meet the leader of Team 7, Kakashi Hatake. The man was a hero among Konoha shinobi, having been a force to be reckoned with during the Third Great Ninja War. He also had the infamous reputation of failing every single genin squad assigned to him.
What if he failed Naruto? He wasn't sure he would be able to deal with the shame.
He hadn't met the man and Naruto found himself completely terrified already. And his team— holy crap, his team. Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke. It was as if whoever had organized the teams hated him.
Well, mostly everyone did. Shikamaru had expressed his sadness after finding out they wouldn't be in the same team, and Iruka-sensei even treated him some Ichiraku ramen just to cheer him up. They were the only people (other than Sarutobi-sama, the Hokage) who actually cared for him and now he wouldn't see them as often. Instead, he had to deal with a spiteful Sakura and a very arrogant Sasuke. He sighed.
What if Kakashi-sensei hates him as well? His brows furrowed at the thought, and he turned his head to look at the headband Iruka had given him on the small table. Naruto wanted to become a strong shinobi so everyone could recognize his worth— he was quick with his fists but Naruto didn't know any jutsu other than the Kage Bushin no Justu, and even that couldn't save him from most situations.
Sigh. Now that he couldn't fall asleep, might as well train some. Moving to sit upright on the bed, he stretched and looked out the window to admire the moon, shoulders relaxing a bit.
So pretty, and so far away... if only he could be far away from the village, too.
Naruto shook his head and got up, quickly grabbing his orange pants and undershirt to change quickly. He left his light gray jacket until the end— as much as he missed his navy and orange jacket, gray helped him not stand out as much. His bright yellow hair and baby blue eyes did enough as it was. He brushed his teeth and tried to tame his wild hair, headband secure around his neck. Breakfast? Toast and some warm milk, making him feel tons better.
Better head out now, he mused after cleaning the dishes, slipping into his ninja sandals and heading out, locking the door behind him.
"Here... we go," he said meekly, walking to the Training Grounds N° 3.