Author's Note: This is just a drabble that bubbled to the surface of my mind when I was reading some fanfics. And yes, I'm still working on Shadow Play. Two scenes are finished. :)
Naruto had many houses.
The first one was very dim in his memory--his wet nurse's. All he could remember about the place was that it was very big and it had pretty pink walls. Well, then again, maybe the 'very big' part came from the fact that he was only a baby when he lived there. So, okay. All he could remember about the place was that it had pretty pink walls.
But, he knew it hadn't been home.
Because, if he closed his eyes and concentrated for a while, sometimes he saw flashes of faces, and all of them were distant and frightened.
The second one was also fuzzy in his mind as well--his foster parents'. The place was built with faded red bricks, topped with steel-blue shingles as roofing. It also had a nice garden out front, where his foster-mother had grown vegetables in neat little rows. One of his strongest memories of the place was running through those rows, while being careful not to tread on the delicate plants that were growing on either side of the narrow trough. Usually, in those memories, the sun was shining bright in the cerulean sky, while a few cute fluffy clouds drifted happily in that vast blueness.
However, this also hadn't been home.
Because, another one of his strongest memories of the place was hearing his foster parents argue with a guest--a ninja--about how much longer they had to keep the 'thing' in their household. Usually, in those memories, the sun was hidden behind a mass of roiling dark clouds, while the sky growled angrily and sent down torrents of punishing rain.
The third one was the one that he remembered best. His current apartment. It was a rather run-down place with webs of thin cracks running along the plaster underneath the yellowing wallpaper. The windows often got stuck during winter time, forcing Naruto to shiver in the cold while he scrounged up some tools he could loosen the frame with. He was fairly happy, however. He could do whatever he wanted here, and there was nobody to disturb him.
However, this wasn't home either.
Because, he could do whatever he wanted here except talk to another living body--kage bunshins didn't count. Because, there was nobody to disturb him from his stupor when he sat dumbly on his bed while rain poured outside.
However, this didn't worry Naruto, for he had many homes as well.
Home was thwarting yet another attempt of Konohamaru and his little friends to 'surpass him'. Home was dragging the three by the ear back to Ninja Academy, where they belonged.
Home was Iruka-sensei taking him to the Ichiraku Ramen Bar for a well-deserved bowl of ramen after a long mission. Home was the laughter they shared over the stupid antics of the newest batch of Academy students.
Home was ero-sennin--or, the Great Jiraiya-sama--snatching him away for another one of his 'research trips.' Home was him hauling a drunken, singing Jiraiya to safety from a hoard of angry, molested women.
And finally, home was bickering with Sasuke and Sakura, while waiting for Kakashi-sensei to appear. Home was them guarding each others backs as they embarked on yet another dangerous mission to protect the Hidden Leaf from her enemies.
To Naruto, home had never been a static place or a building. To him, home was moving all the time.
Moving, with the people he had come to love and cherish.
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