I sit in class in my seat near the front of the room so I can pay attention to the lesson as all eyes are on either Sasuke, Iruka-sensei, or I. The ones with their eyes on Iruka-sensei are actually attempting to be a ninja when they get out of this school. The ones with their eyes on me, however, are immature, mean, and don't know the difference between a demon and its container. Sasuke's fangirls have their eyes on him, as always, and are daydreaming while wasting Iruka-sensei's time as well as their own as they pretend Sasuke will even look in their direction for going to the Academy.
One of the people whose eyes are on Sasuke is a girl with long, pink hair who turns and looks at me with her emerald green eyes. I smile at her politely, she laughs at me and I begin thinking I'm funny or something of that nature. She slides over to my seat so the entire Academy can see her and whispers in my ear, "You're a monster and you'll never become a ninja because my Sasuke-kun won't let it happen". That makes my smile fade, not like I don't get things like that said about or to me often. They say things like that about me all the time. There's no way I'm a monster, I'm only twelve. I don't even have any chakra control and I'm terrible at taijutsu. what kind of monster has no strengths?
That girl's name was Sakura and I've had a crush on her for quite some time but now I don't think that crush will survive any longer. I'm not like her and the rest of those stupid Sasuke fangirls. When someone puts me down without even attempting to get to know me is when I put my foot down. I run away with demonically enhanced speed fueled by sadness and anger along with an overwhelming need to prove myself to these ingrates who I have to put up with and protect when I become a ninja. Iruka-sensei sees this and runs after me.
"Naruto! Naruto, come back!". Iruka-sensei and Hokage-ojiisan are the only people who show me any kindness and I love them like a family. I stop running and turn around to see him right behind me. "Why did you run away, Naruto?". He didn't hear what she said so I can't yell at him like I do with everyone else.
"Someone called me a monster... I didn't want to be around people that talk badly about me when I didn't have to be...", Iruka-sensei looks at me sadly as he knows how people talk of me in the village.
"Who, Naruto?", I sigh and hang my head as I know I'm only going to be attacked by everyone in the class if I rat her out.
"It doesn't matter, Sensei. Let's go back and begin training again. You promised to help me after class". He nods and knows that there's no way I'll tell him if I don't want to. We walk back to the Academy grounds and they don't say anything bad about me... loud enough for him to hear anyway. My ears are even better than that mutt, Kiba's so I hear every last word they're saying about me being a dobe and monster.
"Why do you let them get to you, Naruto-kun? You're gonna be the best ninja ever, I promise!". That makes me smile, like always and I hug him around his waist since that's about where my arms are compared to his height anyway. "Now, what do you want to practice, Naruto?". I let go of him and brush my blonde hair out of my eyes, the crystal blue orbs shining in the sun's bright beauty.
"May we start with taijutsu, Sensei?". He nods and I crack my knuckles and neck. My white shirt has a swirl on the stomach, my family's symbol. The Uzumaki symbol. I close my eyes for a moment and when they open, he's not in front of me anymore, but behind me ready to strike. I flip forward easily and my shirt moves up with the way I do and it reveals that I already have a six pack. All the girls swoon and quickly catch themselves as they turn back to Sasuke, who is watching intentively. I run forward, my shorts being black cargo shorts so they allow free movement without restriction and they are warm for the chillier days of summer. I throw a punch at him and he dodges by backflipping onto his hands, but I sweep his hands out from under him and he substitutes with a log. I jump onto the log and then into the trunk of a tree, escaping his grasp once again by flipping backwards off of the tree and landing behind him as I push him so that his head hits the tree, but he substitutes himself with a swirl of leaves.
"You're very good for your age, Naruto-kun!". He grabs my ankle and I punch him in the jaw. He releases me and I flip to land on my feet as I disappear as soon as he makes contact with me after his desperate lunge at me. I reappear on a tree branch and jump down with both feet ready to kick him into the earth below before he substitutes with another log and I jump back using the log as a springboard. I land on the earth just behind him as he has to turn around and it costs him the time it takes me to jump back onto my hands and throw my feet into his jaw harshly. He falls back onto his back and I jump forward quickly with one foot on his chest and one on the ground as I hold a kunai to his throat.
"I win, Sensei!", I say in a matter-of-fact way. He grins and sweeps my legs from under me. When I hit the ground, his grin fades quickly as I explode into smoke and it turns out that the Naruto in front of him was just a clone and he gets up quickly as he needs to know where I am if he wishes to win this sparring session. He hears my footsteps, which was my intention in the first place or else he wouldn't have heard them, and lunges at me with a fist cocked and ready to strike. I backflip and grab his fist quickly as he cocks his eyebrow and I flip over him with his hand in mine and I twist it behind his back. He cringes and I push his chest against the tree, "I told you I won, Sensei", I say with a kind smile.
"Okay, Naruto, I surrender", he says as I let his arm go and he smiles at me. "You're very good at taijutsu, Naruto. You very well might be Hokage one day". I smile brightly at him and he takes two fingers from each hand and creates a cross with them. "This, is how you would create a clone, but I see you already know how that's done", he says with a kind smile on his lips as the scar on his nose stands out slightly but I know better than to ask about it. I smile back at him and he thinks that I'm happy, when in reality I'm just a little kid without parents, friends, or family at all, save a precious few.
I smile and copy as my eyes close and a million clones appear and we all blink at each other. "Looks like I overdid it a bit, huh, Sensei?". He nods dumbly as the sheer amount of chakra I just got rid of is dumbfounding even for a jounin. I force all but two of them to disappear into smoke and we each smile at each other.
"N-Naruto, you mastered the s-shadow clone technique?". I nod at him as if to ask what the big deal is about that. "B-but that's a jounin t-technique... even I haven't mastered it yet...". I smile at him kindly and the clones dispell into smoke.
"I know you can do it, Sensei, you just have to give it your all!". I hear the whistling of a kunai flying my way as I create clones and send them to get everyone to safety while I deal with the kunai and who threw it. I stand my ground as fire dances in my eyes, the only warning of what I hold inside. A beautiful girl with buns in her brown hair and a chinese dress on runs up and looks for her kunai as I cock an eyebrow in confusion.
"Have you seen my kunai?". I nod and blink a few times to try to get over the shock of this girl being the one who threw the kunai at me. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to, I was training with Gai-sensei and I lost track of where my kunai were being flung by my jutsu. I hope no one got hit". I hold up the kunai for her to take and my eyes never leave her beautiful, chocolate brown eyes. She smiles brightly and takes it gently from my hands. "Thank you so much. My name is Tenten by the way, and yours?".
I take a deep breath and gulp down hard as I try to force my name out of my throat. "My name is Naruto...". She extends her hand for me to shake and I take it gently, a light blush on both of our faces as I pull it to rest on my chest above my heart for her to feel. "Does that feel like the heartbeat of a monster?". She blushes darker and my own disappears into a serious expression.
"N-no.. Why do you ask?". She cocks her head to the side and my eyes go lighter slightly as I let go of her hand.
"No reason, thank you for your time, miss Tenten". I kiss her hand gently and disappear into a swirl of leaves, which only increases her blushing. I reappear at Ichiraku's Ramen and walk in slowly, a serious expression on my face despite the smile my lips are letting grace my face. My icy blue eyes catch the chocolate brown ones of one sixteen year old Ayame and my smile grows more genuine only to witness her blush bright red and turn to her father to inhibit further embarrassment.
"Naruto-kun, what brings you here?". I smile at him as he approaches the counter and I sit on my usual stool. Ayame looks at me and then at her father, Teuchi. "Are you here to have some of our world famous ramen or for my world famous daughter?", I grin at him with a cocked eyebrow.
"I have to choose? Oh, man, this is the worst trip to your store ever!", I make an overdramatic pouting expression that makes Ayame giggle. I brush the hair out of my eyes and turn my gaze on her. "What should I choose, Ayame-chan? I'm really hungry... but I don't wanna let any other guy take you from me..." She frowns and I wink playfully. "I'm only kidding, Ayame-chan! I'll take one Ayame Ichiraku for the road, please, Tuechi-san!". Ayame blushes and giggles louder as Teuchi looks at me happily.
"She could do a lot worse than be with our future Hokage, ya know? You're strong willed, protective, loyal, and your heart's in the right place!". I smile and lock my fingers together with my hands behind my head.
"Well, gee, Tuechi-san, I never knew you felt that way about me. I would've been prepared if I did". I grin and he ruffles my hair which makes me frown and shake my head so it goes back to normal. "So, you really think I've got what it takes to become the Hokage? Like my father?".
He nods and smiles genuinely as I smile back and Iruka-sensei sits beside me. "Hey again, Naruto. I was wondering where you ran off to, but now I see you're back to your flirting with the lovely miss Ayame". He smiles and Ayame must not have heard the comment because she is still cleaning dishes.
"I've been staying out of trouble, if that's what you're asking, Iruka-sensei". Tuechi walks over with money for me and I cock my eyebrow.
"Have her home before morning, Naruto. Oh, and another thing, don't hurt her. I trust you not to, so don't make me second guess my judgement." I nod and flip over the counter with my hand on it as I land behind of Ayame and I wrap my arms around her waist.
"Let's go, Aya-chan. Thank you, Iruka-sensei, Tuechi-san!". I smile as Ayame looks over her shoulder at me and we disappear into a swirl of leaves near a sakura tree. We see Ino standing beside the tree and I look into her eyes and it takes me back to a horrible memory.
-flashback-
I had just turned eight and the villagers decided to take out their hatred and rage of the Kyuubi out on me. I had been cornered after running round the entire village and I was out of breath. I had nowhere to go and I just decide to let them beat me and get it over with. They do this every year on my birthday and I don't know why. I just want the pain to stop!
A little girl about my age with striking blue eyes is standing beside a man who appears to be her father. The man's wearing the usual green jonin vest and pants while she's wearing a pretty white sun dress. Her blonde hair is short, but not so short that it's difficult to tell she's a girl.
I back into the corner and a few civillians begin throwing nearly empty bottles of sake at me. They were drunk so only one hit its mark and it gave me a nasty cut on my forehead. The bottle shattered on my head and glass shards scattered all across the alley. The men press forward with their weapons of tree branches, broken sake bottles, or dulled swords since they aren't allowed to kill me. Not that they would anyway, they just want to beat me into a bloody mess where I'll be walking away from it later.
I look at them in paralyzing fear as one hits me in the stomach with a tree branch turned wooden staff. I clutch my stomach instinctively and hit my knees, deciding to ignore the glass for now. My knees are now bleeding along with my forehead and I am struck again by the same man, but this time in my face. My head is thrown back into the wall behind me and that's where it rests as those same blue eyes watch the entire scene. One man turns and throws a sake bottle at me, which hits me in the arm and cuts me along my forearm since I was using it to block my head. A man walks up and spits on my hair as I cry softly. They all laugh in their drunkened state of pride in beating a little kid into submission.
The beating continues for hours where the only sounds heard are those of a boy being hit, a boy crying, and multiple men groaning and cheering. Eventually they stop and the girl just stares at me with sad eyes as she wanted to help me but couldn't because her father is holding her so tight that she wouldn't be able to move an inch if she tried. I lay in a pool of my own blood and tears until I cry myself to sleep in the alley.
I wake up in a hospital bed with the Hokage standing over me, "Are you alright, Naruto?", I nod slowly and he silently thanks something toward the sky. I look at my arm and I notice I'm in a full body cast. "They beat you pretty badly, Naruto. I can't believe those punks would hurt an innocent, defenseless boy. I'll find out who did this, Naruto, I promise. They will be punished and we'll have you up and running around in no time", he says that last part with a smile as if he thinks me being able to move is what I want more than anything else.
"Why do I get beaten, Hokage-ojiisan?", I look at him with the saddest eyes I think he's ever seen. "Why me? Why my birthday? Haven't I suffered enough? I don't get it, Hokage-ojiisan!", I begin to cry softly and my eyes are serious and sad. Hokage-ojiisan looks at me and nods as he pulls me into a gentle hug.
"I don't understand either, Naruto. They don't understand that you aren't the Fox, but its container. They want revenge on the Fox for what it did to their families and friends but it isn't around so they pick on their own savior. They ridicule and berate as well as attack and abuse their future Hokage. You, Naruto", he ends with a smile and I smile back up at him as my broken, sore arms slowly wrap around him.
-End Flashback-
I come back to reality when Ino is staring at me with her eyebrow cocked and Ayame is asking me if I'm okay. I quickly nod and feel Ino inside my mind as I look at her sadly. She knows how I feel about her and she knows how she feels about me but I don't see why she would like me in the slightest, let alone love me! She decides to leave me a little message that only I can hear due to her mind manipulation abilities before I go out of her range, "I'll be at your apartment in two hours, Naruto-kun. Please let me make right what I did so long ago".
With that she walks away and I lead Ayame to my usual training grounds. When we get there, she sees all the kunai and shuriken in the trees, on the targets, on the ground, and in the Sasuke picture and she looks at me in surprise. "What? A guy can't practice throwing a knife at a stuck-up punk's face without surprising his date?", I look at her with playful cluelessness and she giggles as I kiss her cheek and that makes that blush return to her cheeks. "You like me, don't you? As more than a friend or brother, I mean." I look at her seriously and she winces at how strong my tone sounds. She gets over the initial shock and nods slowly with blushing cheeks.
"I have for some time now, Naruto-kun. There wasn't a time when you said something that didn't make me laugh when it was meant to. There wasn't a time when I went through a bad break up and you didn't comfort me all night even though you had training and class in the morning. There wasn't a time when you didn't m raping me when my own father couldn't. You're everything I've ever wanted in one man and I thought it was impossible. I guess that's what you do best, eh, Naruto-kun? Do the impossible, that's what you do constantly. You push boundries that others had no way of doing, you pull off the most intricate of jutsus, and you steal the heart of a girl four years older than you. You thrive on the impossible, Naruto-kun".
I take her home and