Monument
Naruto was sitting on top of the Hokage Mountain when the third Hokage, the Sandaime, walked up beside him. "Is everything alright, Naruto?" He asked. As Naruto looked up at the Sandaime, the feeling of depression became even worse. 'Even Hokage-jiji has a family… Everyone has one; so why don't I?' He thought. But he smiled and pretended everything was fine, just like he always did. It's not like if he complained to the old man everything would be fixed… Life just wasn't like that. Even he knew that, and he was the 'Dobe' of this years academy students.
"What do you mean by that, Hokage-jiji?" Naruto asked of the Hokage. Sarutobi sighed. No matter how many times he told him not to, Naruto would still call him 'Old man Hokage'. "What I mean, Naruto, is don't you have practice to attend?" He explained to the younger boy. Naruto's smile faltered a bit, but came back full force not even a second later. Of course he had practice; but Sakura didn't want to train with him-she was too busy trying to get her 'Sasuke-kun' to go out on a date with her- and he definitely didn't want to train with the teme… And Kakashi-sensei was busy with said teme.
"Naaw… I got my training done earlier; I just wanna think about some of the problems I'm having beating that teme!" He said with his 'usual boundless energy'. Sarutobi nodded, having believed him somewhat. "Well, if you are having any problems other than that, you know you can always come to me, right?" He asked. Naruto nodded, but inside, he was thinking, 'Gomen, Saru-jiji, but my problem not even you can fix or help me with.' Sarutobi nodded and was quiet for some minutes. Then he said, "You can always come to me for anything, Naruto. Just remember that." He turned and walked away.
Naruto watched him until he was out of sight, and returned to what he was thinking about before the old man had come to talk to him. 'Family…' That was his problem. He had no family, unlike the other kids. The all had mothers and fathers; some even had brothers or sisters. It was so unfair! The villagers hated him for something he couldn't control, and he had no one to help him or to stand up for him. Sometimes, like right now, he would get so depressed by that thought, that his perpetual mask of happiness cracked, and he would have to get away from everybody lest they see.
'Family…What does that word mean to me?' It meant having someone to look up to. Someone to hold you when you were sad, or sick, or having someone to train or fight with. It meant having someone who cared.
'Love…? Happiness…?' What did those words mean? He had never had someone to explain that to him, let alone show him. And yet, so many others had that person, sometimes people, to show them everyday, that he was jealous of them. Jealous of the very people who hated him for what happened to him at birth. 'What is a family like?' He wondered.
Family was something you treasure… like a father… or a brother… 'So what's a real family like?' Up until now he had had his head down, looking at his feet; but as he lifted his head to look out over the Hidden leaf village, he whispered, "How would I know…?"
Owari