Naruto Uzumkai

Changing Fate

By Darkest Shadow

I still can't believe this, it seems all too surreal. No one loves me.. no one has ever loved me. I can never be loved.. I will forever be an outcast in this world. I have no friends, all my family has died, I have been raised as an orphan. I have been criticized and thrown to the wayside. I have had my back turned on one too many times. I am falling into a darkness that I am unable to get out of. I can turn to no one.. I can turn to nothing.. I can feel something brewing inside myself.. I want... vengeance.. to pay back all the pain that has been caused to me. Is that really worth it though, to go and kill everyone just for what they have done?

These are the thoughts that ran through the 8 year old boy that walked down the streets of Konohagakure, a village found at the edge of luscious green forests in the Fire Country. This boy had blonde hair, he had blue eyes, his hair was spiked in different directions, and four bangs fell in front of his eyes. He wasn't incredibly tall, about 4'3" at best. He wore a white t-shirt with a leaf that had spirals in it, and blue baggy shorts. He carried around a wallet that could best fit the description of looking like a frog. This kid's name is Uzumaki Naruto, container of the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. He is shunned and hated by his village for killing it's greatest hero, but they have little idea that their greatest hero wanted him to be revered as a hero.

"You ungrateful demon! What are you doing here?! Go back to where you came from you menace from hell!" One of the villagers shouted at him. Naruto just continued walking onward; he had been hit with enough phrases to not show that he was fazed by them. After all, he wasn't needed by anyone, but at least the Third had made it where no one could touch him, which meant he could live a semi-normal life. Still, the fact that no one had wanted him or would ever want him, haunted his mind completely.

Day in and day out, it's this same kind of treatment.. Everyone always shouting insults at me, no matter what I do or where I go. I feel so out of place here, it just feels so unnatural to me. Is this what a home is supposed to feel like? No, a home is supposed to be a place where you can go to for comfort... a place where you can feel like you belong. Every day here is a living hell for me; it's just all too hard for me to take. I can't take it! I can't take this anymore! Someone please just take me away from all this!

The young boy collapsed to his knees the moment he got into his apartment home, tears were streaming down his face. This had become a daily routine for him everyday, showing a confident mask to all those who put him down, and then letting all his weaknesses out when he got home. This went by, day after day, for many days, but this particular day something was different. He sensed that someone might have been following him, watching him on this day when he walked home. He heard a knock to his door, but wondered who would possibly want to come visit him. He got up, and after wiping his tears away, he opened the door.

Standing in front of him was a girl, with navy blue hair, she had white eyes, and she was about the same height as him. She was wearing a tan colored jacket with black pants, and she had her hands clamped together rather nervously. Naruto blinked, he had seen her before, but wondered why she had chosen a loser like him to come and visit. Why would she want to bother with a nobody who didn't have any friends? He couldn't piece together the puzzles to figure out that she too, did not have any friends.

I've watched you for the longest time. All the pain and suffering you've had to go through. Everyone turning you away, because you aren't like them, you're a different person to them altogether. To their world, you are an outsider, not one of them, and can never be one of them. I know your feelings quite well, because I am the same as you.. I too am alone in the world, I have no friends, my father shuns me, and my sister hates me. She is so much better than I could ever be; I just wish I could be in her position in my father's eyes right now.

Naruto could see the longing sadness behind her eyes, the same type of sadness that had shown behind his eyes when he wasn't facing her. He felt like he could be a little open with her, and seeing as how there was no one starting a conversation, he decided they he would attempt to start one, since he knew her name.

"Uhh.. Hello Hinata," Naruto said to her, giving her the warmest smile he possibly could give.

Hinata smiled nervously at him, but she gave him her reply, "H-hi Naruto-kun." She replied sweetly.

Naruto nodded and invited her into his house, after all, it would be rude for him to just her sitting out there, and she had come to visit him after all. He figured it would be worthwhile to at least invite her in and show her around, the company seemed to be enjoyable after the many lonely days that Naruto usually had. These days included many days of him just lounging around doing nothing but playing board games or watching TV whenever applicable, since he could never find anything else to do.

He never did keep a luxuriously clean apartment, there were always things lying around, though he did try to keep it as spotless as possible whenever time permitted itself, surprisingly enough since one would expect him to clean up as something to do to pass the time, but he could never really find it in himself to do it. He did try to clean up when Hinata showed up, but she reassured him that it was fine; she didn't care how his apartment looked, after all it was HIS place, and he was free to keep it any way he wanted.

He could see that despite his position, Hinata was visibly impressed by what she saw in his apartment. He had wondered if she had never seen anything like this before, or if she didn't have the freedom of expression that he did where she lived. He thought about her last name, Hyuuga, he remembered that it was the name of a noble clan that lived in Konohagakure. He figured their rules must be very strict considering their heirs, and he was quite sure that Hinata might have been one of them. Though, even considering this, he really thought nothing of the fact, it didn't really seem to interest him. What interested him was that this person wanted to come visit him. This person he barely even knew, and never really talked to at all, was now standing in his apartment and looking around it, even if there wasn't much to see, it was as if she had entered a new world completely.

To Hinata this place seemed very new. She wasn't allowed to own any of the things that Naruto had in his house. She couldn't believe the amount of stuff that was around, and yet even still she could tell that he got lonely. She was very impressed by the collection of board games he had, she wondered how he could have afforded them all with no source of income, but decided it would be best not to ask such a question. Finally making her way into the bedroom she could not believe the size of the bed he had for such a small apartment. Her father would never let her have a bed that big, it would've been spoiling her too much. Come to think of it, her father had already thought she was spoiled too much. She had been carrying a bag and set it down earlier, she picked it back up off the counter she set it down on.

"Umm.. Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked softly, but managed to catch his attention

"Yeah. Hinata?" Naruto replied visibly interested in what she had to say

"I-I baked some cookies, would you like some?" She held the bag up nervously too him

He looked at her and smiled, "Why, certainly, thank you Hinata." he took the bag of cookies from her.

He inspected the bag thoroughly, and then opened it up. Hinata seemed like a suspicious character, and yet at the same time her presence made her very trustworthy in nature, and Naruto felt like he could trust her. Something about her seemed to call for him to trust her. Careful, he opened a package and picked out a cookie slowly. He looked at it, and then popped it into his mouth, chewing at it to get a feel for its succulent taste, which he had to admit to himself, tasted rather delicious and satisfying, to the point where he seemed beyond content after eating it, and one might thought of him as maybe even a slight bit happy.

He smiled at Hinata, "Mmm.. these are yummy, would you like to share some with me?"

Hinata blushed slightly, tense and a little nervous, but she smiled at him, "Y-yes.. I'd love to have some," was her nervous reply.

Naruto handed her some of the cookies out of the bag, and she took them. He couldn't understand truthfully, why Hinata seemed so nervous around him, yet at the same time she seemed to feel comfortable enough that he wouldn't try to harm her. He brushed the nervousness as just a phase, she was after all only getting to know him, perhaps she still believed some of the things the villages said about him, and so she was probably quaintly surprised to find out that they were untrue. He was actually a very caring person in nature, just not allowed to show it due to the villagers turning him away. He was not a monster, far from it in fact, at best he might have been a little insane, but he would never do anything the villagers made him out to be capable of doing. In fact, he didn't even think he had such capable powers, of course, little did he know that he was in fact the container for the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. This fact was kept a secret by the Third Hokage, who had believed that if he had kept it a secret from all the children, it was possible that maybe Naruto would be able to live a semi-normal life. Maybe one day he would in fact be able to make a friend of some sort to help him through his troubling times.

Naruto and Hinata played some of the board games he had, one of them being Go. Hinata seemed to be enjoying herself, she felt truly happy for the first time, and she had finally made a friend who she could tell her problems to. Naruto also felt himself beaming inside, he had made his first friend in his entire life, and he loved every minute of the time he was spending with her. After the board games they moved onto watching the TV, but nothing was really nothing on that seemed to catch either of their interests. Naruto looked out of the window of his room, and noticed that it was starting to get close to night. Now might be a good time for them to part ways and for Hinata to get going.

"Hey, Hinata, it's almost night time, shouldn't you be heading home now?" Naruto asked concerned.

"O-oh.. Y-yes, I should get going.." Hinata replied dumbfounded that time had gone by so fast.

They said their parting words to each other, and Naruto saw Hinata off, and he closed his door and went back inside. He walked into his bedroom and pulled back the covers. He decided that before he got into bed it would be a wise idea to get something to drink to clench his now parched throat. He walked into his apartment kitchen and fixed himself a glass of water, and guzzled it down. As he finally got into his pajamas and got into bed, he had thought about the events of the day.

I had thought that it would be fated to be this way forever. I didn't think there was any way possible for me to continue onward with my life anymore. There was no purpose to it, no reason for me living, that I would always be shunned, so I had planned to end it all tonight, to just kill myself and end this living nightmare. I see now though, fate can be changed, it can be turned into hope, hope that a new day will bring forth the light to shine in someone's life. Hinata has shown me that there are people who care for you, if only you wait for them to come, there are people out there who are in the same exact position that you are in. They understand you and who you are, and why you act the way you do. Changing fate is a matter of time and patience, and waiting for the right moment.

Naruto smiled to himself, and finally crawled into his bed. His mind was racing over the many memories he had today, and how he had finally made his first new friend. Things were now looking up for him, he could sleep peacefully for the first time in nights, instead of being haunted by the nightmares that everyday would make his life a living hell and there would be no one there for him to go to. Hinata had become his sanctuary, a friend he could confide all of his problems in. She was someone he could go to so he could get away from the rest of the awful world in which he was treated; she was someone who would accept him for who he was. With a gleeful smile on his face, Naruto could see the darkness creeping over his eyes as he drifted off into a deep slumber that would be filled with pleasant dreams of one of the happiest moments of his life, the moment in which he changed his fate from that of being useless to being needed by someone….

--

Naruto closed the journal that he had usually kept with him as a kid. He was now twelve years old and enjoying his first day of being a graduated genin. He was told it would be a hard job and he believed it, but at the same time he took it as easily as one would expect. His exterior mask of confidence had not betrayed him, but somehow it spurred on to believe he could actually fill himself. He walked outside his apartment door, and used his keys to lock it, today was the genin's inauguration where they would finally meet their jounin masters to see if they could meet the test to become actual genins. Naruto hoped that he would past, and as an inspiration he remembered the image of his old friend that he had wrote about in his journal, Hyuuga Hinata. No matter where he was, she would always be an inspiration for him to move forward, just as he was an inspiration for her.

Author's Notes: So, my first oneshot is finally finished, what did you guys think? Was the ending original, or did you not see it coming? If it was original, did it at least give you guys a good effect? I'd like some reviews on how much you guys like this oneshot, because if so, I will be sure to do more in the future. So please leave me reviews with comments, criticisms, and questions, and I will get to them as soon as I can by pming you! Until then, ciao!