A/N I posted this as a different story before, kittykatsaymeow, and I got a review or two and then removed it from the site. I wanted to put it somewhere else. In a drabble collection, in fact. kittykatsaymeow, thank you for your review, I have continued as you advised.
On another note, I think I'll update differently. A week is the maximum time for an update, with one day being the minimum. Happy days.
Once, a young boy lived in a garden. It was a big, beautiful garden, but the boy was trapped. Thick stone walls surrounded the garden, cutting off the outside world. The walls had no doors.
When the boy was even younger, he had liked to explore the garden. Now he just liked to wander the familiar paths, smelling the flowers and resting in the shade of the trees dotted here and there.
In the center of the garden, a large tree grew, larger than any of the others. The leaves were strips of paper, fluttering in the breeze, the worries of the people outside the garden scripted there, in all colors on all colors. The boy had long since lost interest in these; they just made him sad. Sad for all the billions of people whom, like him, had never known true happiness. He called this tree the Worry Tree.
--
Let's call this boy Trapped.
--
The boy sat in the grass, watching the puffy white clouds float gently over head. Something obscured his view of the sky. It was a head, and body. Someone had gotten inside the garden.
The child leaning over Trapped smiled at him. He sat up, wondering where this other boy had come from. "Hi. You don't seem happy. Do you want to play? Don't just sit there, come on!"
The other boy stood up quickly, over balanced, and fell into the grass. He laughed, and Trapped somehow instantly felt better.
--
Let's call this other boy Free.
--
Free showed Trapped the door he had found in the wall. Trapped knew there had been no doors, but Free could open a door.
"I've always wanted to see what was inside these walls," he had said. "People said it was stuff like scary monsters and ghosts, but I never really believed them. Wait 'til they hear 'bout this!"
They explored the garden together over the next few days, and even though Trapped already knew it well, it was fun to watch Free get excited about something like a hollow in the rocks, or the shape or color of a flower. The Worry Tree also made Free sad, so they didn't play near there.
One day, Free came and said, "Let's explore outside!" Trapped followed him, out the door in the walls, to a place Trapped had never believed truly existed. To the forest.
--
The forest was full of greenery, plants, and animals. Free told Trapped the names of some of the plants they saw, like trilliums, and blackberries. They followed a small path that Free said had not been there before. It led them to a stream, a stream with mossy rocks, a smooth, pebbled bottom, and clear, cool water. The two boys sat on the rocks and splashed their feet in the water, making glittering drops fly into the sunlight. Trapped flew with them.
--
They visited the stream many times, some days rolling up their pants and wading through, or trying to catch the fish or tadpoles, other days simply sitting on the bank, absorbing the spring sunlight.
One time, Free came when the sky was still dark, and said to Trapped, "You haven't seen a sunrise, have you? Let's go, I'll show you."
"Okay," he replied. They followed the path to the stream again, and Free showed Trapped a good tree to climb. "Just like a ladder," he had said, and Trapped was able to make it quite high. Free slipped up a tree next to him like a squirrel, hardly touching each branch before leaping up to the next. Just as Trapped felt like if he climbed higher, he would get nauseous, the sun broke the horizon. Streaks of yellow, salmon pink, and purple flared into the sky, clouds highlighted from underneath by the sun's early rays. Trapped watched in wonder as Free laughed and laughed.
--
Another time, Trapped wanted to explore further down the stream, and Free eventually agreed. They splashed down the stream, the water running deeper and faster. The boys left the water and returned to the banks, racing each other through the thick underbrush. They skidded to a halt at the edge of a cliff, where the water poured down into a deep pond at the bottom. It was a waterfall.
"Hey, let's climb down to the pool!" Free called over the roar of the water. The spray had misted their clothes with tiny droplets, and the rocks were slippery, but they weren't afraid.
When they reached the bottom, Free quickly jumped in the oversized puddle, making the water lap the banks and completely drenching his clothing. Trapped couldn't swim.
"Don't worry, I'll teach you. Come on, it's nice." Trapped tentatively put his feet in the water, and gasped at the coldness. "It gets better when you get used to it," said Free. Teeth chattering, Trapped slipped farther into the water until he was up to his thighs.
"I- I d-don't real-lly f-f-fee-el c-comf-fort-table..." he shivered.
"Here, let me show you. The first step is floating." Free coaxed Trapped into the pool, showing him how to float and kick through the water. Trapped copied him nervously, but was reassured when Free said he'd pull him up if he went under.
--
They visited the waterfall, and the stream, many times. Nothing ever has a truly happy ending, though, and so they were bound to be separated.
--
Once, they climbed down the sides of the waterfall and played tag on the rocks below. Free chased after Trapped, but the latter suddenly disappeared. Free could hear his laughter coming from the waterfall. No, it was from behind the rushing torrent. Free darted around the falls and found Trapped, laughing like Free had that morning of the sunrise, lying on the floor of a cave. The cave hidden behind the waterfall.
--
Later, they explored the cave, and found two letters, addressed to them respectively, but the date was in the future. Free said they probably shouldn't open them until that date. Trapped agreed. They left the letters in the cave, and continued their play, but the letters were still on their minds.
--
Months later, the date arrived. Trapped and Free scurried down the slick rock face and dashed to the cave, wiping their damp hands on their clothes. They split the seals with trembling fingers, sliding the paper out of the envelopes. They read the letters, mysteriously having learned to read in the past without knowing why or how.
--
The letters described their future lives as they truly, deep, deep down, wanted them to be. Free memorized his letter and dropped it into the pool, the ink spreading from it in small clouds, choking the few fish.
Trapped carefully placed the letter back in its envelope and tucked it into an inside pocket. He climbed the cliff thoughtfully, thinking about the contents.
--
A week later, Free searched the garden for Trapped, thinking it must be another game of Hide and Seek. The only thing he found was the letter Trapped had received in the cave. It described a life without Free.
Trapped was gone.
--
These two boys' names were Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha.
Which is Trapped, and which is Free?