The Fight Inside Us All
8 teenagers sat in a circle. Staring into each other's eyes, looking to see who was brave enough to speak first.
One boy stood up, tired of waiting for his peers. All eyes were on him. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha." He began. "When your at the top everybody wants to be your friend. I had everything. Cool friends, hot girlfriend, respect and admiration. Just like my brother Itachi, as a matter a fact, I wanted to be the first to break his record." He paused for a moment. "But once you fall you realize just how quick all those friends disappear. When I was at my best, I was captain of the team. At my worst nothing more than a suicidal cripple." He finished then sat down.
The next boy followed. "I am Neji Hyuga, you probably know me, student council president, and "Hero" of the school, but the truth is I'm just like everyone else, I've got a limit and I can only handle so much.… I had to find something to turn to, find a way to escape. Drugs and alcohol were my only answer and soon became more important to me than anything else, it was so important, I didn't realize what my addiction was doing to me."
The first girl stood up. "Um it's Ino Yamanaka." She began awkwardly. "People say I sleep around and I won't lie and say it isn't true. Never really could handle the responsibility that came with holding one man, and as a result of that irresponsibility I became pregnant, and for the longest time no one was there for me.
A boy shorter then the previous two stood up. "Choji." He said quickly. "People say words don't hurt, but that's nothing but bullshit. Those guys didn't understand just how badly those words hurt. Those words can chew people up on the inside, no one stops until something big like suicide happens. Unfortunately in addition to being fat I was a coward. Didn't really have the guts to kill myself. But I wanted to make sure nobody ever called me fat ever again. So I decided not to eat. But I didn't know when to stop stopping."
It was a girl this time who stood up and gave Ino a wearily glance. "It's Sakura. I made a mistake okay. I sent one nude picture of myself to my ex and the picture spread everywhere and now I can never get rid of it. Eventually I just couldn't take it anymore, so I began to hurt myself.…" She ended it there.
"It's Shikamaru." A new boy introduced himself. "I was your average kid. Everybody always praised me for being a genius, I always disagreed. I just wanted to be great. Until my dad died, he inspired me to do everything and always get the highest grades to become valedictorian like he once did. But without him, I'd rather be a god damn cloud then live this life. Where everything is nothing but a drag…"
Then there was a girl. "Hinata". She answered the unasked question. "I was an honor-roll straight A student and I led the volleyball team to nationals. Soon though after my little sister entered middle school my parents began to fight a lot. I was so confused. Was it my fault? Then they separated. My sister Hanabi, my mother, people I've spent my entire life with were gone just like that. It hurt, it hurt more than anything."
They all finished talking, until there was one kid left, slightly isolated from the group. "This is stupid I've got nothing to share."
"Come on kid." The mediator, a smart man named Kakashi urged. "This is your last chance."
"Ugh." The boy sighed. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. At one point in my life I had big dreams. I wanted to become the president. But those were nothing but stupid dreams. One mistake from my childhood and I was permanently labeled a monster. All I wanted was for their mocking voices to stop. Eventually I heard other voices. But this voices were different, they treated me like I was human, they truly understood. They wanted me to be happy." He paused for a moment and looked at his peers. "Which is why one day I decided to bring a gun to school. I wanted to kill everyone who had ever made fun of me to ensure it never happened again.
So… What did you think?