Hey.

No you don't know me. It's ok. I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to talk. I have this burden on my shoulders I've been carrying for a while now. I just feel like I need to tell someone.

I want to tell you my story. Ok?

You want to know my name? Naruto, that's all you're getting. Then again, if you actually listen to my story you'll know everything.

Let me warn you though. This isn't a nice story where the hero gets the girl, evil is beaten, and everyone gets a happy ending. I'm sorry it isn't, but true stories rarely are nice.

People like me, we don't have good stories from the beginning. Kids who end up fighting in wars for ideals they don't even believe in. Just so they can feel a moment of comradery in their last moments and delude themselves into thinking they sacrificed themselves for a greater good. Kids who want to get used because they're tired of being alone.

I'm rambling, my bad.

I guess I should start now. Once upon a time…

Gah, that sounds so stupid. But I don't know how else to start a story. I feel like it should be more awesome, you know? Like 'It was a dark and stormy night when…' or something. I don't know. I'm sorry. Let's try this again.

Once upon a time, there was a boy.

Once upon a time, there was a boy. He was shy and loved to munch on potato chips during class. He only had one good friend, but he was a nice kid. One day he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That day I threw him into a wall and broke his neck, killing him on impact.

I didn't like him or hate him. I was just so mad, so angry that everything blurred in front of me and all that mattered was letting it take its course. He was in my way. He was saying my name with such a scared look in his eyes. I hated that look.

I howled at him, but he wouldn't move. So I grabbed his arm and threw him into the wall. I heard the crack and the screams of the other kids, but nothing registered. All I could think about was their laughter. They wouldn't stop laughing at me. I had to make them stop.

And all of a sudden the desks nearby are bursting into flames. The air around me gets hotter and it seems like the air is getting thinner. I can barely breathe, my throat is raw, and I just want to pound my fists into someone's flesh.

The rest of the kids are freaking out. Some are frozen even as smoke fills the room and others are running.

But she's still standing there. My prey is standing in the same spot as when she mocked me. Her haughty look is gone replaced by the sheer horror of it all.

She met my eyes and began to scream. I rushed toward her, vaulted over the desk between us. She tried to back away and ends up tripping over something. Then I'm on top of her, hand on her throat choking out her stupid little life. Her blue eyes so unlike mine are rolling around and I can hear her skin sizzle as my fingers pressed deeper.

"I'm not a freak, and I'm not a weirdo. Just because you've got everything doesn't make mean you can look down on me," I whisper as flames danced between us. She might have responded if she could have, but her face was turning blue.

"Naruto!"

And they're calling my name. But I'm not done yet, she's not done yet. But they're calling me, yelling my name like they know who I am. And they don't, and they probably never will.

The girl is gripping my arm, fingernails leaving sores and bruises in my skin. She's been kicking around but I've got it under control. This is how she's got to learn. How they all have to learn. They don't know who I am, so I need to show them.

Only I'm looking at her eyes. Those eyes saying 'I want to live', and suddenly I'm not so sure. Because I'm thinking maybe this whole thing was stupid in the first place. Because she's just another dumb girl raised by dumber parents who hate me for some reason I don't know. Because killing her is different from that boy. He was an instant. She is a century of gasping and screams.

So I let go. I stand up and I see that I'm surrounded by Masks. Wood explodes out of the ground and I jump out of the way. The second I turn around there's a Mask and he's already halfway to knocking me out.

Crap, crap, crap. Fuck. Why'd I let her go? Now it doesn't matter because these Masks are going to kill me for what I did. The Mask chops my neck and I'm seeing black, becoming darkness.

Maybe that's for the best. If I'm there, I won't ever have to deal with them ever again.

I need to explain.