Another drabble fic in the 20 Truths format, although this time it turned into 25 versus the originally planned 20. Go figure.
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1) Cry
Two cries pierced the air that night. Both sent chills down the spines of all who heard.
One was the cry of the beast.
One was the cry of a mother in pain.
They where joined by a third.
The cry of a young son, born into a life of hatred and persecution, but with a destiny of greatness.
2) Warmth
He's always known warmth. Even before he was born, he knew the comforting warmth of his mother. Afterwards, the warmth changed, multiplied. There was the still the warmth of his mother, but it was joined now by his sister, cousins, aunts, uncles. The soft warmth of his favorite blanket. The fuzzy soothing warmth of the dog that had been a part of his life since the moment he was born. He was warm, always.
3) Cold
He was always cold. He had been warm once, long ago. In that brief period when he had a family, he'd been warm. After that, he was always cold. He had no favorite toys, no blanket to curl up in. He was alone in the world, the other children shunned him, the adults hated him. Even the sun was cold to him. The only warmth was the burn of the angry glares, and the rage that sometimes welt deep within him. He found he preferred the cold.
4) Laughter
His laugh was warm, his smile genuine. He loved to play, loved to be with his friends. But most of all, he loved to laugh for the sheer joy of laughing.
His laugh was fake, his smile dead. He wanted to play, but no one wanted him. He had no friends, was never able to make any. He only laughed to make the silence go away.
5) Pain
There are two kinds of pain, physical and emotional.
He knew physical pain. It came with being the heir to his clan, the aches and pains from sore muscles and injuries. Train harder, always harder. That was what he had to do. But while he knew the pain of the body very, very well, he never really understood how you could be in pain, without being hurt.
He knew emotional pain, god how he knew it. He hurt every second, of every minute, of every day. Even while he slept, he hurt. The pain was not physical, no. He understood physical pain, but it was nothing compared to the pain in his heart. He hurt, and no one ever saw.
They both understood pain.
6) Sky
He had eye's like the sky on the clearest day of summer, a perfect cerulean blue. His hair shone with the brightness of the sun, golden locks fly everywhere. Sun and sky, set on display by one boy.
7) Forest
His eye's where the perfect forest green, matching the leaves of the trees he slept under. His hair was like the brown of the earth around him, deep and rich.
8) Meetings
They met by chance. One was lost, trying to find his way home, the other out for a walk.
Curled up at the base of a tree, one weeped. That's where the other found him.
"Are you okay?"
"Please... tell me how to get home... I'm lost."
He smiled to the other, offering him a hand. "Come on, I know the way out."
"Thank you," he sobbed, throwing himself at the other and hugging him tight.
9) Names
Names can tell a lot about a person.
His name was a gift. Kiba Inuzuka, hair to one of the larger clans, someone who can be counted on to be loyal and trustworthy.
His name was a curse, as plain as the marks on his face. Naruto Uzumaki, the demon child. Clan less, a waste of space and a bane to the village.
It's a good thing that the reputation of a name can be changed.
10) Marks
They where both marked from the moment they where born.
One was marked by his clan, and wore the mark proudly from that day forward.
One was marked by his father, a hero who only wanted the best for his village and family. He could never know how much his son cursed the mark he inflicted on him for so many long, terrible years, until he was finally, slowly, able to overcome his mark and forge his own place in the world.
11) Time
They thought they had all the time in the world, during those early days. No school, no responsibilities, just themselves, and the quiet forest.
It's a shame time ran out so quickly.
12) Friends
Kiba had all the friends he could ever want or need. But that didn't mean he wasn't open to more.
Naruto was alone. Always.
Then he met Kiba.
After that, neither of them really cared if they made new friends, as long as they had each other.
13) Home
Going home meant something different for both of them.
For Kiba, it meant returning to the comforting noise of his family's home; to the sounds and smells of the dog packs, chores, and his comfortable bed.
For Naruto, it meant returning to a silent, cold, worn-out apartment; broken faucets, pealing paint, and a lumpy old bed that was never comfortable.
14) Search
They both searched for something.
Neither could figure out what.
In the end, they where searching for the same thing.
15) Secrets
Everyone has a secret. It was just a good thing that it was Naruto that discovered Kiba's secret, and vice versa.
16) Spark
The spark was there, it just needed a bit of help to get the fire started.
Thank you Akamaru.
17) Kiss
Really, how many people can say that they owe their first kiss to their dog?
Akamaru will never know how often Kiba thanks him for shoving him into Naruto that day after school.
18) Found
It wasn't until they where older that they realized that the thing they where searching for they'd found. In each other.
19) Love
"So this is love..." mused the blond, laying awake the first night they spent together, his brunet lover snoring peacefully with his head pillowed on his bare chest.
20) Memories
Memories are funny like that... you never remember things the way they really happened.
For Naruto, that meant forgetting the horrors of his childhood, and only remembering the good.
For Kiba, that meant forgetting everything but the very best.
In the end, all they could remember about their life was each other.
21) Ghost
The ghosts of the past never truly fade. Names remain, and odd flash here and there.
Sometimes the ghost are more pronounced. A photograph, a letter, something like that.'
And sometimes the ghost live within us. For the good, and the bad.
22) Nightmares
The first time Kiba woke to Naruto having a nightmare, he freaked out a bit. He knew that there where horrors in the blonde's past, but to make an active ANBU member scream in terror, that was truly a nightmare.
The first time Naruto woke up to Kiba having a nightmare, he freaked out a lot. Everyone had their fair share of traumatizing events, and even more so for them as active ANBU. He couldn't understand then, why the only thing Kiba could say after he'd managed to wake him up was, "Don't leave me... please."
It wasn't until later, when they'd both been able to talk about the dreams, did they realize something important.
They had the same nightmares. Same basic theme anyway.
Their biggest fears, the thing that made them wake up screaming in the middle of the night.... was the fear of losing each other.
23) Doors
"Why... do they even bother building doors in these places? Everyone just uses the window."
Naruto stared at the window in question, ready to throw another kunai is the senbon sucker decided to try and get inside again.
"Why they bother with window's at all is a better question," came the reply from the door, Raidou standing there sighing heavily. "I figured he'd be over here, what with Kakashi and Iruka out of town."
"Get your boyfriend... and drag him out of here... before I throw a Rasen Shuriken at him."
"I'm almost tempted to say do it..." sighed the scarred Jounin as he leaped out of the window and down to the pavement where Genma lay dazed and confused.
24) Gifts
Neither of them could afford expensive gifts, so they settled for the little things they could give for free.
A kiss. The first spring wildflower. Words of encouragement.
And always, the most important thing.
The gift of love eternal.
25) Freedom
The chains of fate fell away slowly. On the day Naruto was crowed Hokage, his most loyal ANBU by his side, he had to laugh.
To his left stood a dog-masked ANBU. Behind the mask and the cloak stood his oldest friend, and closest family. His first and only love.
To his right stood a blank masked ANBU. Behind the mask stood a man who knew more about fates sense of humor than anyone else in the village. The curse seal branded forever into the pale flesh of his forehead was his own mark, one he'd fought long and hard to overcome. He took had finally broken from the shackles that kept him bound, and finally the bird flew free of it's cage.
They stood together, a testament to the tenacity and courage of their generation. The strongest the village had ever, and would ever know.
They had found their freedom at last.