Disowner: I own nothing from Naruto/Naruto Shippuden.
Silence sounds the loudest when you are alone and feels the most confining when you are not. A person is either a desirable companion or a despised presence. While a crowd might make you feel a sense of belonging, it can make you feel more alone than ever. The beauty that exists in you is not always seen by others and the screams that rack your mind are never heard. The tears you shed may be noticed but that does not guarantee compassion nor empathy. The past may not define you, rather, it forms your outward identity. While you may grow, you cannot erase your reputation.
All my life I have been shunned and ignored by the people around me not for who I am, but what is inside me. I have been hated and despised, not for my personality - you ask how I know that, well, no one ever bothered getting to know me before labeling me a demon. No one ever bothered getting to know who I really was before hating me. Why do they all look at me like that? With those cold, angry eyes? As if hoping to erase my very being from the surface of the Earth. Why was I so hated? What did I ever do?! Those were the questions that consumed my entire childhood. As I grew, I decided to become stronger because of my imperfections, to try harder despite being put down, to take scathing remarks as encouragements. I became blind to the hatred directed at me, and instead, I fought to combat all with a sense of comradery, to ignore our differences. I knew this wasn't enough, it wasn't enough to achieve my goal. My goal of acceptance. So I trained, I trained and trained and trained, 'till one day I was recognised, until that day, the day I was accepted as a comrade.
My friends grew in numbers and I treasured each one of them, I destroyed those who dared to lay a hand on them and continued to thrive for stronger bonds between myself and the village. I knew I could never erase my past, but I lived in the present, and by doing so, I lay the foundations for my future. Those who opposed me quailed before me, and I continued to fight for my friends. I would do so until the day I die. With this notion in mind, I became a proud Hidden Leaf Ninja, elevated to the role of Hokage, I protected my village and my village protected me, we became one and the same.
When I think back far enough now, I remember they had asked me then: Why waste your breath trying to acquire recognition, when all you may achieve is nothing? Why gain friends, when you will always have countless enemies? Why do you try to win love, when all you receive is hate? Why try your best, if you are only going to fail.
So I now wonder... Why do we live if we are destined to die?
- Naruto Uzumaki