There had to be a reason why such an innocent, sweet child would be by himself during the day. It was not a choice by Naruto himself, but rather the choice of his peers and even of those older than him. Adults, who should understand how harmful it is to ostracize a child, shunned Naruto even though he did nothing but stand there.
There was so much spirit in such a young boy. He held such a beautiful soul, such a harmless youth that though he did not know how kind he was, he knew it was odd that people would pay no heed to him.
At town functions, Naruto would stand in a crowd but not really be a part of it. A circle of emptiness would surround him wherever he went. That was something Naruto could never escape, no matter how hard he tried.
The one thing Naruto used to love was to swing. It was something that had made him smile in such a pure, bright joy it could rival the sun. The way the branch would bend slightly with his light weight, the rough hand-made rope that rapped around the tree's thick branch, the smooth, cool wood that was just the right weight to sail through the sky without any effort, this all made him love the swing. It felt so free for a boy trapped in loneliness. But soon, the loneliness crept closer and closer into his heart until the swing was his only companion. Instead of seeing the swing as freedom he saw it as bondage. He had no where else to go. Nothing else was out there for him. Nothing else was so true to him but that one swing under the big tree that shaded him in even the hottest temperatures.
He would sit in that swing and watch the other children with a growing darkness in his heart. He resented the other children for their happiness. He resented the parents for their cruelty. He resented the world for making him live through such a life. How else should he have felt for being so left out, so alone?
It took awhile for Naruto to be shaken from his stupor. He had been lost in the thoughts of his past as he sat on that swing. He had been so caught up in his thoughts he had not noticed that someone was calling him. Naruto waited to see if the voice would come again.
"Naruto!" came a familiar voice.
Naruto looked up to see a figure in the distance, the one person Naruto would soon call a friend, waving him over. The boy's face lit up at the sight of the man.
He jumped off the swing. It swung back and forth with the new propulsion of its fleeing occupant.
The two, one a man and one a child, walked off together with smiles and joyful chatter the only thing between them.
The swing was left to sway by itself.
Naruto was no longer alone.
A boy, once trapped in the deep shadows of that big tree, once bound to the company of the swing, of an inanimate object that could feel nothing, could now live a life worthy of such bright child. He could now live a life in the sun.