The morning light spilled into the sparsely decorated room of one
Uzumaki Naruto.
The light glinted off the polished surface of a small night stand that was
set beside the twin sized bed that the young boy was currently sprawled
across. The light blue sheets were shoved down to the foot of the bed at
some time during the night and were teetering on the edge; not knowing
whether to fall off or stay in place.
Half-heartedly, Naruto threw his arm across his face in a weak attempt to block out the sun's rays. This was the one day a year that he absolutely loathed, and he was in no mood to deal with his team mates. His birthday. Consequently, also the day that the Kyuubi had been sealed, so the cold glares that usually dogged his footsteps would be increased appropriately.
Deciding that he had better haul some keister some time before nine o'clock, Naruto sat up slowly, stretching his arms over his head and giving a half decent impression of a cat. He threw his boxer clad legs over the side of his bed, and gave a startled yelp when a shock ran up his legs telling his brain that the floor was COLD.
As he rose from his sitting position, he glanced at the scene outside his winodw. It was no wonder his floor had been freezing, it was the middle of fall, and Konoha was known to be visited by old Jack Frost earlier than most other cities in the fire country.
Naruto was instantly hypnotized by the fluttering movements of the multicoloured leaves dancing from the trees that stood next to his apartment.
Shaking his head, Naruto broke the trance and stepped lightly accross the floor towards his small bathroom to freshen up a bit before treating himself to some tempura.
Contrary to what he led others to believe, he was not all that fond of ramen. He ate it mostly because it was all that he could afford on his gennin budget. The reason he always asked for the Ichiraku when Iruka asked him what he wanted for dinner, was because he knew that the Chunin did not have all that much in the funds department himelf, and Naruto didn't want to feel that he was milking his favourite teacher, just because he wanted some variety.
After brushing his teeth thouroughly, he made a beeline for the small dresser that was one of the few furnishings in his entire house. He began to rummage through it to find his orange jumpsuit, the only thing he could wear and not have to worry about ruining; he wasn't all that fond of the suit either, it was just another thing he had found to be easier to purchase than some of the other, more expensive items of clothing. Whenever Naruto neared one of the booths with anything other than bottom price clothes, he was greeted with sneers and a few cold glares thrown in for good measure.
Sighing, he shrugged on his blue t shirt and orange cargo pants, slinging his jacket over his arm. His feet had become used to the chill of the floor, and were not so sensitive to the lowered temperature as they had been.
When Naruto passed from his room into the kitchen, the calendar that he himself had made, seeing as the knick knack shop was another no-no for the fox vessel, grabbed his attention. Throughout his entire morning ritual he had been able to forget the date, but the glaring red numbers reminded him all too well.
Making his way slowly over to the birch cupboards, he extracted a small glass bowl with fish designs around the edge, and placed it gently on the kitchen table. Turning back, he opened one of the slim drawers and took out a small cast iron kettle and a packet of instant ramen. He'd save the tempura for dinner that night.
After he had filled the kettle with luke warm water and placed it on the stove he had affectionately dubbed "flame", he set to work on finishing the sketch of a fox that he had begun to draw on the cabinets. The fox was long and sleek, the main body taking up three consecutive cupboards, leaving a cupboard or two on either side for the head and tails.
The sound of steam whistling borught him to attention, and he placed his pencils back in the appropriate box on the counter next to the miniature fridge in the corner of the kitchen. He rushed to find an oven mitt, and came up with the dolphin one that Iruka had given him a few months prior, after learning that the boy was without one. Grasping the warm handle, he hoisted the kettle off, and poured the water and ramen ingredients into the bowl.
As he ate, he felt that he would indeed go out ad train with his team mates. Warm food in his belly made him feel much better, though he was fully aware of how the day would go. He was definitely not looking forward to it.
Dumping his used bowl and chopsticks into the wash basin he used as a sink, he pulled on his sandals, and wrapped his jacket tightly about him, zippering it up so far that it covered his nose.
As soon as he exited his apartment, he was greeted by the chilly air of the village, but a small gust of warm air quickly dispelled all traces of the frost that had begun to form on both the windows and his clothes. Although winter came quickly to Konoha, it was mostly the nights that were frost bitten, the days enjoying an abundance of sunshine and warm breezes that came from the south.
As he trotted cheerily down the streets towards the bridge where his team usually met, the response of the villagers was not as he had expected. In fact, it was worse. Instead of the glares and sneers he would usually have received, he was greeted by whispers and murderous looks. Of course, the cold glares required to make the hatred completely known were firmly in place as well.
Feeling his smile slipping, Naruto quickly streched his cheeks as wide as he could with his facial muscles, and continued on as though he was oblivious to the contempt of the populace. Though on the outside he was all cheer and good fun, inside he was reeling. He hadn't done anything particularly vulgar in the last few months, so he had no idea as to what the people could possibly think he had done. All he knew was that he was very hurt for what he thought was unwarranted anger. This only added to the already depressed state of mind that usually accompanied him on this day.
Finally exiting the more crowded parts of Konoha, he entered into a small clearing with various types of trees sprouting out of the ground. The leaves here, too, had changed colour, and he was ensconced in a world of oranges, browns, and reds. All too soon he arrived at the bridge, and made an effort to keep up appearances. "Ohayo, Sakura-chan!" he shouted merrily to the pink haired girl standing in the middle of the stone arch that stretched accross the small river. The girl was too engrossed in her ogling of the Uchiha, and didn't even hear the greeting.
Said Uchiha was leaning casually against one of the rails that guarded either side of the bridge, and said nothing at all to either the girl staring at him nor the blonde who was steadily nearing them, all the while with a bored expression plastered on his face.
Naruto faltered slightly at the lack of aknowledgement, but quickly recovered and began to prattle on about nothing in particular to Sakura, the pink haired one, whom most thought he was smitten. This in itself was untrue, but like the ramen, it gave him something to talk about, or to hunger after.
Usually, Sakura would have at least looked at him before turning back to her Sasuke drool-fest, but this time he was disappointed. Deciding to take a different approach, he began to start in on the insulting Sasuke angle. "Oi, pretty boy, why don't you ever say anything? Or is it that you're just to dumb to form complete sentences?" he stated loudly, in the hope that either one that would see that he was there. His attempt did not go unrewarded. With a resounding SMACK, Sakura had bashed him over the head with her right fist, and instantly began berating him for insulting HER Sasuke-kun.
While the strike had not been fun, he had gotten the attention he had been going for, and so he contented himself to droning on about Sasuke being an ass.
"Oi, dobe, I wouldn't talk about people being dumb if I were you," The Uchiha stated stoicly. Though said with calm, if one were to look they could see both amusement and annoyance shoot accross the cold boy's face at the comment from Naruto.
As was expected, the blonde immediately adopted a furious look, and glared at the onyx eyed boy.
"Shut up, you bastard! What do you know?!" Naruto exclaimed, though he agreed with the Uchiha, He did indeed act like an idiot, but only because if he let himelf be normal, others would suspect that he was more powerful than they thought -which he was, those hours spent training hadn't all been for naught- and subsequently come to the conclusion that the fox was somehow behind it, and make an attempt to kill him.
Sasuke, though only mildly irritated by the banter, decided that enough was enough. "Why don't you just shut up? No one wants to hear your voice, and we would be very pleased if you would just go away. Now, are you gonna clam up, or am I going to have to force you?" The last part was stated with a smidgeon of hope, as he had not been able to spar with his comrade in a fair while. Naruto was one of the few whom he considered to be worthy rivals, and he was eager to see how much the shorter boy had improved over the short break they had been awarded.
However, instead of the mocking comeback, and the holier-than-thou attitude that would normally follow a challenge such as the one uttered, Naruto simply stood there with a hurt and lost expression on his face. Sakura, though she had not been paying attemtion to Naruto, turned slightly and caught the look on his face, and was instantly worried. Naruto was not the type to be sad, he was the energy and cheerfulness of the group, and seeing him like this felt wrong somehow.
"Naruto...are you ok?" Sakura whispered, concern etched upon her features. Sasuke, who had closed his eyes and was looking down, all the while anticipating a sharp yell from his orange clad team mate, looked up quickly when Sakura had uttered the soft inquiry. What he saw - though he would never admit it- scared him. The look on Naruto's face was so similar to the one he himself had worn for the first couple of weeks after his parents had been slaughtered. He stifled a shudder at the expression, and though he didn't show it, he too was worried.
Like magic, Sakura's words snapped Naruto out of his daze, and he put his hand behind his head, shooting an apologetic smile at Sakura.
"Um..yeah, I'm fine, Sakura-chan! But thanks for worrying!" He smiled widely, but neither Sakura nor Sasuke were convinced that he was 'fine'. "Really, I'm ok! I am hungry though, I wish that Kakashi-sensei would get here soon so we can get the mission over with! I want some ramen!" the word 'ramen' seemed to set all of Sakura's fears at ease, and she began to chide Naruto for worrying her over nothing. Sasuke, though, was still staring at the boy he called rival, contemplating what he had just witnessed.
Just as Sasuke was about to approach the blond, a fimiliar pop was heard, and the accompanying smoke gave away that their sensei had arrived.
"Sensei, you're LATE!" two voices echoed throughout the area, sending a small flock of sparrows into the sky. The volume, however, seemd to have no effect whatsoever on the silver haired man standing in front of them. Instead, his one visible eye curved into a happy arch, and he began his explaination of why he was tardy.
"Well, you see, I was walking along, when all of a sudden the dam broke. There was a little girl at the bottom, and I just had to rescue her!" the man explained with a grin. Well, it could be considered a grin, for it wan't very visible through the face mask that covered the lower half of his face.
"LIAR!" came the sharp reply from the two, but as before the man was unaffected. Sasuke contributed to the accusation by glaring coldly at their sensei.
"Um...anyway," the man, Kakashi, started uneasily, " Our mission today is to..." As Kakashi trailed off, two of his students could be seen leaning closer to hear what he had to say. Even Sasuke cocked an ear in interest.
"Train!" Kakashi finished. Sakura and Naruto landed with a thump onto the stone bridge, and Sasuke merely sweatdropped. When Sakura and Naruto had picked themselves up off the ground and dusted themselves off to their content, they turned their focus back onto the man they called sensei. Sasuke gently pushed himself away from the rail, and stood behind his team mates, and waited for Kakashi to lead them to the pratctice grounds.
The walk was not very far, and the trip went by quickly. Sakura spent the time staring at Sasuke as per norm, and Naruto was strangely quiet, only throwing in the occasional comment about some random topic. While it was unknown as to whether their teacher noticed this lack of exuberance on the part of Naruto, the glint in Sasuke's eyes showed that it had not gone unacknowledged by him.
Once they had reached their destination, Kakashi turned at once, facing his students, and informed them that they would be sparring this day. Sakura let out an almost imperceptible groan, and Sasuke's eyes shone in anticipation; this was the perfect opportunity to test his rival. Naruto gave the customary speach about how he, the future Hokage of Konohagakure, would kick the ass of one Uchiha Sasuke.
Although not showing any outward sign that he had been concerned, the silver haired sensei let his muscle relax a bit as his student seemed to be well, just a tad quiet. He instructed the two boys to spar with each other while he himself trained Sakura, and neither one objected to the arrangements. Each went to opposite sides of the field where they adopted a ready stance. Naruto instantly charged at his opponent, and launched one fist upward to distract the dark haired boy while he concentrated on pummeling his torso. The swing had the desired effect, and as Sasuke reached his arm to block, he left the majority of his chest open to attack, and attack Naruto did. A quick volley of punches followed shortly by a snap kick to the sternum sent Sasuke flying into a tree, where he connected hard, leaving a dent in the trunk.
Rising quickly to his feet, he threw a few shuriken at Naruto, while he jumped up into the tree that he had crashed into. The shuriken were dodged easily by the recipient of the barrage, and Naruto backed up quickly so as to spot any incoming attack. However, because the thoughts of the morning were still running through his head, he failed to notice that Sasuke had created a shadow clone, and the real Sasuke was stealthily gliding through the surrounding trees.
When Naruto discovered that the 'Sasuke' in the tree wasn't moving, he decided to take cover in the bushes at the opposite side of the field, and then launch a sneak attack on the unsuspecting Uchiha. While in theory this was a good idea, he was still unaware as to the swap, and didn't know that Sasuke was hiding in the very bushes he was planning on using.
Sprinting away from the tree, the words of the morning once again were passed over. 'Why don't you just shut up? No one wants to hear your voice, and we would be very pleased if you would just go away. Now, are you gonna clam up, or am I going to have to force you?' So they'd like it if he went away, huh? Well, he wasn't exactly opposed to the idea either. The thought of leaving Konoha had been contemplated extensively, but he just couldn't bring himself to go. Even if he WAS hated here, it was still his home, and he couldn't abandon it for what he thought to be selfish reasons.
So wrapped up in his thoughts was he, that the shout of "Fire technique: Fire Flower!" was not processed until the wave of heated air first reached his face. As he looked up into the glowing wall off fire, one thought passed through his mind: "Aw, shit."
(A/N:) Disclaimer: I onw nothing of the name Naruto. I don't remember the real owner, as it is long, and has many letters. That is all. You can go frolic now.
Half-heartedly, Naruto threw his arm across his face in a weak attempt to block out the sun's rays. This was the one day a year that he absolutely loathed, and he was in no mood to deal with his team mates. His birthday. Consequently, also the day that the Kyuubi had been sealed, so the cold glares that usually dogged his footsteps would be increased appropriately.
Deciding that he had better haul some keister some time before nine o'clock, Naruto sat up slowly, stretching his arms over his head and giving a half decent impression of a cat. He threw his boxer clad legs over the side of his bed, and gave a startled yelp when a shock ran up his legs telling his brain that the floor was COLD.
As he rose from his sitting position, he glanced at the scene outside his winodw. It was no wonder his floor had been freezing, it was the middle of fall, and Konoha was known to be visited by old Jack Frost earlier than most other cities in the fire country.
Naruto was instantly hypnotized by the fluttering movements of the multicoloured leaves dancing from the trees that stood next to his apartment.
Shaking his head, Naruto broke the trance and stepped lightly accross the floor towards his small bathroom to freshen up a bit before treating himself to some tempura.
Contrary to what he led others to believe, he was not all that fond of ramen. He ate it mostly because it was all that he could afford on his gennin budget. The reason he always asked for the Ichiraku when Iruka asked him what he wanted for dinner, was because he knew that the Chunin did not have all that much in the funds department himelf, and Naruto didn't want to feel that he was milking his favourite teacher, just because he wanted some variety.
After brushing his teeth thouroughly, he made a beeline for the small dresser that was one of the few furnishings in his entire house. He began to rummage through it to find his orange jumpsuit, the only thing he could wear and not have to worry about ruining; he wasn't all that fond of the suit either, it was just another thing he had found to be easier to purchase than some of the other, more expensive items of clothing. Whenever Naruto neared one of the booths with anything other than bottom price clothes, he was greeted with sneers and a few cold glares thrown in for good measure.
Sighing, he shrugged on his blue t shirt and orange cargo pants, slinging his jacket over his arm. His feet had become used to the chill of the floor, and were not so sensitive to the lowered temperature as they had been.
When Naruto passed from his room into the kitchen, the calendar that he himself had made, seeing as the knick knack shop was another no-no for the fox vessel, grabbed his attention. Throughout his entire morning ritual he had been able to forget the date, but the glaring red numbers reminded him all too well.
Making his way slowly over to the birch cupboards, he extracted a small glass bowl with fish designs around the edge, and placed it gently on the kitchen table. Turning back, he opened one of the slim drawers and took out a small cast iron kettle and a packet of instant ramen. He'd save the tempura for dinner that night.
After he had filled the kettle with luke warm water and placed it on the stove he had affectionately dubbed "flame", he set to work on finishing the sketch of a fox that he had begun to draw on the cabinets. The fox was long and sleek, the main body taking up three consecutive cupboards, leaving a cupboard or two on either side for the head and tails.
The sound of steam whistling borught him to attention, and he placed his pencils back in the appropriate box on the counter next to the miniature fridge in the corner of the kitchen. He rushed to find an oven mitt, and came up with the dolphin one that Iruka had given him a few months prior, after learning that the boy was without one. Grasping the warm handle, he hoisted the kettle off, and poured the water and ramen ingredients into the bowl.
As he ate, he felt that he would indeed go out ad train with his team mates. Warm food in his belly made him feel much better, though he was fully aware of how the day would go. He was definitely not looking forward to it.
Dumping his used bowl and chopsticks into the wash basin he used as a sink, he pulled on his sandals, and wrapped his jacket tightly about him, zippering it up so far that it covered his nose.
As soon as he exited his apartment, he was greeted by the chilly air of the village, but a small gust of warm air quickly dispelled all traces of the frost that had begun to form on both the windows and his clothes. Although winter came quickly to Konoha, it was mostly the nights that were frost bitten, the days enjoying an abundance of sunshine and warm breezes that came from the south.
As he trotted cheerily down the streets towards the bridge where his team usually met, the response of the villagers was not as he had expected. In fact, it was worse. Instead of the glares and sneers he would usually have received, he was greeted by whispers and murderous looks. Of course, the cold glares required to make the hatred completely known were firmly in place as well.
Feeling his smile slipping, Naruto quickly streched his cheeks as wide as he could with his facial muscles, and continued on as though he was oblivious to the contempt of the populace. Though on the outside he was all cheer and good fun, inside he was reeling. He hadn't done anything particularly vulgar in the last few months, so he had no idea as to what the people could possibly think he had done. All he knew was that he was very hurt for what he thought was unwarranted anger. This only added to the already depressed state of mind that usually accompanied him on this day.
Finally exiting the more crowded parts of Konoha, he entered into a small clearing with various types of trees sprouting out of the ground. The leaves here, too, had changed colour, and he was ensconced in a world of oranges, browns, and reds. All too soon he arrived at the bridge, and made an effort to keep up appearances. "Ohayo, Sakura-chan!" he shouted merrily to the pink haired girl standing in the middle of the stone arch that stretched accross the small river. The girl was too engrossed in her ogling of the Uchiha, and didn't even hear the greeting.
Said Uchiha was leaning casually against one of the rails that guarded either side of the bridge, and said nothing at all to either the girl staring at him nor the blonde who was steadily nearing them, all the while with a bored expression plastered on his face.
Naruto faltered slightly at the lack of aknowledgement, but quickly recovered and began to prattle on about nothing in particular to Sakura, the pink haired one, whom most thought he was smitten. This in itself was untrue, but like the ramen, it gave him something to talk about, or to hunger after.
Usually, Sakura would have at least looked at him before turning back to her Sasuke drool-fest, but this time he was disappointed. Deciding to take a different approach, he began to start in on the insulting Sasuke angle. "Oi, pretty boy, why don't you ever say anything? Or is it that you're just to dumb to form complete sentences?" he stated loudly, in the hope that either one that would see that he was there. His attempt did not go unrewarded. With a resounding SMACK, Sakura had bashed him over the head with her right fist, and instantly began berating him for insulting HER Sasuke-kun.
While the strike had not been fun, he had gotten the attention he had been going for, and so he contented himself to droning on about Sasuke being an ass.
"Oi, dobe, I wouldn't talk about people being dumb if I were you," The Uchiha stated stoicly. Though said with calm, if one were to look they could see both amusement and annoyance shoot accross the cold boy's face at the comment from Naruto.
As was expected, the blonde immediately adopted a furious look, and glared at the onyx eyed boy.
"Shut up, you bastard! What do you know?!" Naruto exclaimed, though he agreed with the Uchiha, He did indeed act like an idiot, but only because if he let himelf be normal, others would suspect that he was more powerful than they thought -which he was, those hours spent training hadn't all been for naught- and subsequently come to the conclusion that the fox was somehow behind it, and make an attempt to kill him.
Sasuke, though only mildly irritated by the banter, decided that enough was enough. "Why don't you just shut up? No one wants to hear your voice, and we would be very pleased if you would just go away. Now, are you gonna clam up, or am I going to have to force you?" The last part was stated with a smidgeon of hope, as he had not been able to spar with his comrade in a fair while. Naruto was one of the few whom he considered to be worthy rivals, and he was eager to see how much the shorter boy had improved over the short break they had been awarded.
However, instead of the mocking comeback, and the holier-than-thou attitude that would normally follow a challenge such as the one uttered, Naruto simply stood there with a hurt and lost expression on his face. Sakura, though she had not been paying attemtion to Naruto, turned slightly and caught the look on his face, and was instantly worried. Naruto was not the type to be sad, he was the energy and cheerfulness of the group, and seeing him like this felt wrong somehow.
"Naruto...are you ok?" Sakura whispered, concern etched upon her features. Sasuke, who had closed his eyes and was looking down, all the while anticipating a sharp yell from his orange clad team mate, looked up quickly when Sakura had uttered the soft inquiry. What he saw - though he would never admit it- scared him. The look on Naruto's face was so similar to the one he himself had worn for the first couple of weeks after his parents had been slaughtered. He stifled a shudder at the expression, and though he didn't show it, he too was worried.
Like magic, Sakura's words snapped Naruto out of his daze, and he put his hand behind his head, shooting an apologetic smile at Sakura.
"Um..yeah, I'm fine, Sakura-chan! But thanks for worrying!" He smiled widely, but neither Sakura nor Sasuke were convinced that he was 'fine'. "Really, I'm ok! I am hungry though, I wish that Kakashi-sensei would get here soon so we can get the mission over with! I want some ramen!" the word 'ramen' seemed to set all of Sakura's fears at ease, and she began to chide Naruto for worrying her over nothing. Sasuke, though, was still staring at the boy he called rival, contemplating what he had just witnessed.
Just as Sasuke was about to approach the blond, a fimiliar pop was heard, and the accompanying smoke gave away that their sensei had arrived.
"Sensei, you're LATE!" two voices echoed throughout the area, sending a small flock of sparrows into the sky. The volume, however, seemd to have no effect whatsoever on the silver haired man standing in front of them. Instead, his one visible eye curved into a happy arch, and he began his explaination of why he was tardy.
"Well, you see, I was walking along, when all of a sudden the dam broke. There was a little girl at the bottom, and I just had to rescue her!" the man explained with a grin. Well, it could be considered a grin, for it wan't very visible through the face mask that covered the lower half of his face.
"LIAR!" came the sharp reply from the two, but as before the man was unaffected. Sasuke contributed to the accusation by glaring coldly at their sensei.
"Um...anyway," the man, Kakashi, started uneasily, " Our mission today is to..." As Kakashi trailed off, two of his students could be seen leaning closer to hear what he had to say. Even Sasuke cocked an ear in interest.
"Train!" Kakashi finished. Sakura and Naruto landed with a thump onto the stone bridge, and Sasuke merely sweatdropped. When Sakura and Naruto had picked themselves up off the ground and dusted themselves off to their content, they turned their focus back onto the man they called sensei. Sasuke gently pushed himself away from the rail, and stood behind his team mates, and waited for Kakashi to lead them to the pratctice grounds.
The walk was not very far, and the trip went by quickly. Sakura spent the time staring at Sasuke as per norm, and Naruto was strangely quiet, only throwing in the occasional comment about some random topic. While it was unknown as to whether their teacher noticed this lack of exuberance on the part of Naruto, the glint in Sasuke's eyes showed that it had not gone unacknowledged by him.
Once they had reached their destination, Kakashi turned at once, facing his students, and informed them that they would be sparring this day. Sakura let out an almost imperceptible groan, and Sasuke's eyes shone in anticipation; this was the perfect opportunity to test his rival. Naruto gave the customary speach about how he, the future Hokage of Konohagakure, would kick the ass of one Uchiha Sasuke.
Although not showing any outward sign that he had been concerned, the silver haired sensei let his muscle relax a bit as his student seemed to be well, just a tad quiet. He instructed the two boys to spar with each other while he himself trained Sakura, and neither one objected to the arrangements. Each went to opposite sides of the field where they adopted a ready stance. Naruto instantly charged at his opponent, and launched one fist upward to distract the dark haired boy while he concentrated on pummeling his torso. The swing had the desired effect, and as Sasuke reached his arm to block, he left the majority of his chest open to attack, and attack Naruto did. A quick volley of punches followed shortly by a snap kick to the sternum sent Sasuke flying into a tree, where he connected hard, leaving a dent in the trunk.
Rising quickly to his feet, he threw a few shuriken at Naruto, while he jumped up into the tree that he had crashed into. The shuriken were dodged easily by the recipient of the barrage, and Naruto backed up quickly so as to spot any incoming attack. However, because the thoughts of the morning were still running through his head, he failed to notice that Sasuke had created a shadow clone, and the real Sasuke was stealthily gliding through the surrounding trees.
When Naruto discovered that the 'Sasuke' in the tree wasn't moving, he decided to take cover in the bushes at the opposite side of the field, and then launch a sneak attack on the unsuspecting Uchiha. While in theory this was a good idea, he was still unaware as to the swap, and didn't know that Sasuke was hiding in the very bushes he was planning on using.
Sprinting away from the tree, the words of the morning once again were passed over. 'Why don't you just shut up? No one wants to hear your voice, and we would be very pleased if you would just go away. Now, are you gonna clam up, or am I going to have to force you?' So they'd like it if he went away, huh? Well, he wasn't exactly opposed to the idea either. The thought of leaving Konoha had been contemplated extensively, but he just couldn't bring himself to go. Even if he WAS hated here, it was still his home, and he couldn't abandon it for what he thought to be selfish reasons.
So wrapped up in his thoughts was he, that the shout of "Fire technique: Fire Flower!" was not processed until the wave of heated air first reached his face. As he looked up into the glowing wall off fire, one thought passed through his mind: "Aw, shit."
(A/N:) Disclaimer: I onw nothing of the name Naruto. I don't remember the real owner, as it is long, and has many letters. That is all. You can go frolic now.