Things That Rhyme With Orange

Chapter One: Oh, What a Wonderful World (All Sarcasm Intended)

I already miss the deep blue skies that reflected my eyes. I already miss the scent of clean rain washing away all of yesterday's sorrows to bring everything anew. I already miss breathing without the fear of terminal lung cancer…

Yeah, sure. These are rather odd musings for a high schooler to formulate, but that's what happens when you move away from the spacious suburbs to the cage-like big city. My father got a promotion from work, but that doesn't mean he has to move the whole family… right?

I mean, in the suburbs I could see the night stars. Heck, I could even hang with my friends way after the sun goes to sleep. There were no worries of muggers and rapist and things alike. The worst to come were the random small dogs of neighbors. Oh, I'm so scared of cute, fluffy Yorkies! Not…

… But I might be slightly afraid of brutish gangsters that look like they can break bricks with their pinkies. Just slightly.

"Look, there's the central building of Uchiha Corp." Dad hollers over my music. I know he wants me to hear him, but that's no reason to disrupt I Set My Friends On Fire (1).

Yanking each bud from my ears, I turn to look out of the window on the side of the car my father is gesturing to. Steel. That's all I see. Steel for what looks like miles on end, piercing the clouds. It reminds me of the "Tower of Mana"(2), though I doubt this Skyscraper is used for the same purpose.

"Uchiha Corp. owns practically all of the really tall buildings in this city," Dad comments.

"Hn, really?" I drawl, uninterested by this tidbit of information. I glance out of the window again to ogle the other building. Not only are all these buildings ridiculously tall, but there's a crap-load of them. The sky practically looks gray because of them. Steel, steel everywhere.

"What the hell are they using all of these buildings for anyway…. Are they pushing towards communism or something?"

"Watch your language," Dad reprimands, purposefully jerking the car just to get a start out of me. I glare at him through the rear-view mirror as he just smiles as if it were an accident. "And it's not communism. Uchiha Corp. just provides many of the city's services."

"Like…?"

"Oh, hospital service, police force, manufacturing many canned goods…. They even make most of the city's transportation services, like all of the buses and trams. They even have their own clothing line, mostly controlled by the boss's two sons."

Sucking my teeth, I spit, "That sounds like communism to me. And look what happened to Soviet Russia. They're so fuc-"

"Naruto…"

"flipping backwards."

My dad laughs. "And that's why Soviet Russia no longer exists. Uchiha Corp. has been standing in this city for many years. I doubt it's going anywhere so soon."

"Yeah, that's what Soviet Russia…"

"Naruto," My dad chides. "My boss is not a communist. And before you can think it, he's not Hitler either."

I sigh uncaringly, popping my earphones back in place and cranking the volume on my mp3 to the highest setting. I Set My Friends On Fire knows what I'm talking about. My dad is already past his prime and wouldn't understand that the corporate world is more corruptive rather than beneficial. I myself, similarly to I Set My Friends On Fire, am iconoclastic. I don't stand for this sort of shit.

I glance back out of the window, trying to gaze beyond the horizon of steel, but to no avail. It's not like I have x-ray vision or something. I'm not Cyclops.

"What is money anyway…" I mutter bitterly more to myself then to my dad, but I guess I must have said it too loudly. I can't exactly gauge the volume of my voice with my earphones in.

"Money's that green paper that everyone's so crazy about. You know, the stuff that bought you those clothes and that Ipod?" he yells sarcastically. I look up in the rear-view mirror to catch him looking at me again.

I roll my eyes at him, pulling out my earbuds once more. "It's not like it's all that great. Besides, if this job were paying you enough, we could have kept the house back home…"

"They are," he chirps back. My face contorts between confusion, disbelief, and anger. Dad spots this and elaborates, "I'm currently renting out our house. I never sold it."

"Then why the hell can't I stay there!?"

"For one, I wouldn't be able to keep an eye on your sailor's mouth and wash it out with soap every so often," he warns, his tone hardening in that authoritative parent way that makes me feel like a terrible child. "For two, I want to make sure you're safe and eating well. And also because I'd get lonely to live out here all by myself…. Have sympathy for your old man!" he softens up, back into the laid-back guy I know him to be.

I turn to glare at the steely horizon again. Those damn skyscrapers in the clouds…. I only have them to blame for all of this.

Well… I guess this marks the end of this mini-chapter. I think all of the chapters are going to be kinda mini

Okay, number notations

(1)I Set My Friends On Fire: That's the Name of the band that wrote the song "Things That Rhyme With Orange". I thought it'd only be appropriate for Naruto to be listening to this band

(2)Tower of Mana: That's from Tales of Symphonia. Go wiki it or play the game to a good explanation.

And I don't believe I made it clear in this chapter, but Minato (4th hokage) is Naruto's dad in this fanfic.

Hmmm… maybe this chapter's just small because it's a short car conversation…?