Title: Attitude
Author: Keitorin (a.k.a. Chou ni Natte)
Fandom: Naruto
Character: young Naruto
Rating: G
Challenge: Word #175 (six) at the lj comm daily15
Summary: Naruto grows up alone, learns alone and comes to conclusions all on his own.
Disclaimer: Naruto is © to Masashi Kishimoto. I'd never try to take his place.
Written: May 02, 2005
Six. He was six years old when they stopped coming and he started living on his own. He couldn't reach the sink, he could barely open the door, and he couldn't cook. That was when he discovered it was easier to just eat cup ramen or go to Ichiraku and beg for a meal, and when he discovered that chairs could reach doorknobs.
He learned that he was alone for a reason. That'd he'd probably always be alone. He'd grown to hate the sound of the clock ticking and tried to get out as much as possible. It was hard, though. Hard to breath in the fresh air and just enjoy being outside, because people all around him were whispering in barely hushed tones, staring at him with cold eyes like ice, and sometimes people bumped into him enough to knock him down.
He never cried. He didn't understand everyone; their treatment only confused him. He began to think maybe something was wrong with him and they knew it, and they avoided him for his own good. So he began to avoid them back, ignore them, but he still went out.
By the time he was ten, he could finally reach the sink, and the door handles, though he enjoyed using the windows sometimes instead, because he didn't pass anyone in the hallways that way. The people didn't bother him much anymore. He'd perfected ignoring them to an art. Their shadows still got to him though, because he was always in them.
When he began school, he realized he couldn't ignore the people there, and so he went all out. It was surprisingly easy to be loud and boisterous. It annoyed people. He thought, 'good, now I'm not the only one annoyed'. It was like he was finally getting back at them. He had a good laugh inside because he didn't think of it as acknowledging them. Just pretending to be happy and loud and all that. They bought it. They treated him like garbage.
The teacher was the only one Naruto was unsure about. He tried to stay away from him, but when he invited Naruto for Ramen, he couldn't help but accept. He hadn't had any in a while – no money had come lately. After a while, Naruto got used to being invited along. He continued his attitude towards the others.
That was about the time he started doing pranks. It was awfully fun to see people's reactions and even Iruka's scary face. Life went on and even when Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi came into his life, he didn't forget to not let their shadows bother him. He only worked harder. Loud and brash, he continued. As always.