Uzumaki Naruto looks at the swing. It's a simple build; two pieces of rope, a plank of wood and a tree. But to him, it used to be everything. It was his safe haven, a place that he could go where no one could touch him. Where he could soar to he heavens and cast off his doubts and fears.
But now, as he looks at the swing, he knows it's just a plank of wood. Because now, the left rope has finally snapped after so many years of sturdy swinging. The sad ancient piece of wood just touches the ground, and a small piece of rope is still tied to the edge. He frowns. Bending down, he realises the rope did not break. It was cut. He stands up and glares at the ninja academy, where he is absolutely sure that the miscreant who did this attends. Naruto's eyes turn sad. He jumps into the tree and cuts off the length of rope entirely. He then uses a piece of his own emergency rope and begins to tie it to the limb he's sitting on.
Carefully letting it down, he secures the knot and begins to climb down the tree. Once at the bottom, he ties the rope it the end of the bit tied to the board, then cuts off the extra. Then he smiles. Naruto sits down on the swing, and begins to move his legs back and forth. Up he sails, higher and higher until he can reach out and touch leaves on the tree. Then he starts to think. Although he sails up to the sky, he also falls back down, with a jolt and a feeling in his stomach. In fact, the higher he goes, the farer he falls. He goes even higher, and he falls even farer! He skids his feet on the ground and stops the swing. Once he stops, he doesn't rise or fall. He's motionless. He gets off the swing and looks at it. It's still just a plank of wood and some rope. But it still used to be everything. He sits back down on it and starts to swing again, wondering why he thought it was so safe. Maybe it's because no one ever bothered him when he was on the swing. Maybe it was because he would soar so fast that he couldn't see the anger in people's eyes.
Maybe.
He hears a voice and looks up as he reaches the pinnacle of his ascent and begins to fall. There's Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi-sensei all waiting for him. Naruto wonders how long they've been watching. But he smiles. They were his family, and they understood. So he jumps off the swing and runs to his family, his safe haven, where no one can hurt him. But he notices. When he jumped off, he didn't have to fall back any more.
And the swing still is swinging.