Declaimer: I don't own Naruto or the songs used. The closes I can get to owning Naruto is by buying the movies and video games. And I don't even want to own the songs. They're Michael Jackson's and should remain that way.
Who this chapter focuses on: Mostly Naruto but Sasuke and Sakura pops up here and there to help
Song: Scream
What album you can find this song on: HIStory - Past, Present And Future - Book 1
My thoughts about this song: I think it's sweet that Michael and his lil sister did a song together. And it looked like they had a lot of fun making the music video. I think the sweetest parts were when they were playing the game and at the end when they hugged. The sad part though is that this song was the last time Michael and Janet worked together.
Favorites line in song: "Kicking me down I got to get up as jacked as it sounds the whole system sucks"
S C R E A M
"Hey!" yelled one blonde ninja as he was not-so-nicely shown to the door by guards. His partner, a pale raven, was not too far behind him, also being thrown out, though, unlike the blonde, he was not thrown over a guard's shoulder, fussing and cursing. However, he did not favor being taken out by his collar either like some sort of dog.
Both teens were rudely dumped on their rear ends just outside of the building
The paler teen, already on his feet, glared at the automatic closing doors, shaking his fist at them. "Well we didn't want to eat your crappy food anyways!" he yelled, not caring that his outburst had drawn everyone's attention towards them. The boy hardly ever lost his cool.
"Sasuke," hissed the other, also on his feet and dusting off his bum. The boy just addressed turned to his friend, his anger instantly replaced with sorrow. "...it's okay. It's just the way things work around here -- I'm use to it."
Sasuke's eyes softened with emotions as he took in his friend's words. "...Naruto..." mentally, he added on to the sentence, 'you shouldn't be use to being treated like this.' He sighed. "Let's find somewhere else to eat."
Naruto grinned, turning in the direction they haven't tried yet. The two had been put out of all of the restaurants on the north side of town and were steadily making their way further south. Naruto insisted -- on more then one occasion -- that the two just go to his favorite ramen stand. Sasuke, however, wouldn't have it. Today was their anniversary: they've been teammates and best friends for five years now.
As the two walked through town, people stopped, whispered, and pointed at the odd seen. The great Uchiha with the demon child...? It was just unheard of. Said "demon child" kept his head lowered, walking faster. Sasuke, noticing this, stopped in the middle of the road, glaring at the villagers, whom had also frozen to see what was to happen next.
"YOU ALL SHOULD BE A FUCKING SHAME OF YOURSELF!!" yelled one pissed Uchiha at the town people. Naruto quickly grabbed Sasuke's hand and dragged him away as others gasped at the raven's outburst.
Tired of injustice
Tired of the schemes
Kinda disgusted
So what does it mean
Kicking me down
I got to get up
As jacked as it sounds
The whole system sucks
Breathing heavily, sweat dripping from his head, blood oozing from freshly made cuts, lips tugging back into a smirk, Sasuke stood tall in the empty training ground.
After making sure that Naruto had made it safely home, the young Uchiha had came here to relieve some of his anger. He couldn't understand how people could treat his best friend the way they do and what's even more unbelievable was the way Naruto was so accepting of their treatment.
It was wrong.
But it was right in their eyes.
A noise from the bushes caught the raven's attention before he could fully register the silence being disturbed. It comes with being a ninja, I guess.
Turning to the sound, he demanded for whoever or whatever was there to show itself. A flash of orange was visible and Sasuke seen more than heard the curse leaving his teammate's lips as the boy emerged from the bush.
"Naruto...? What are you doing here?"
A sheepish grin formed on the blonde's lips as his hand went to rub the back of his neck: a nervous habit he'd picked up some time ago. "Umm... well... what are you doing here, Sasuke?"
Shrugging, he answered, "Training."
"Oh... So... how's that going for you?"
"Good. Can't complain."
"That's good."
"..."
"..."
"Care to explain why you're out here? I thought you were beat."
Naruto inwardly winced. "I... was sorta evicted from me apartment..."
"Oh..." Now let it sink in, "WHAT!?!?"
"I couldn't pay the rent."
Sasuke stood there, his jaw dropped in disbelief. "And he just put you out -- just like that!? He didn't try to work out some type of payment arrangement? Nothing?"
"It's okay. Stuff happens..."
"You can't keep letting them push you around like this, Naruto!"
"I keep telling you, Sasuke, I'm fine with it. When I become Hokage then... then everyone will respect me! And they'll see I'm not some weak kid anymore."
No, Sasuke was not smiling. Just because his lips were forming the basic structure for a smile did not mean that he was smiling. Even if his eyes had soften like they usually did when he smiled, smirked, or grinned, was not enough proof to say that he was smiling.
"Uchiha Sasuke -- are you smiling!?"
But Naruto wasn't one to lie and if he said something then it was usually true.
"Tsk. You're seeing things, dope."
That didn't mean that Sasuke would admit his friend was right though.
"Yes you are! You are smiling!"
"No I'm not!"
"Are to!"
"WHATEVER!"
Peek in the shadow
Come into the light
You tell me I'm wrong
Then you better prove you're right
You're sellin' out souls but
I care about mine
I've got to get stronger
And I won't give up the fight
"No you idiot!" yelled an angry costumer as she and Naruto stood outside her shop, examining the new sign. She turned to the blonde ninja, glaring him down for everything he was worth. "You did it all wrong! I said put it THREE inches over the door!"
"I did," Naruto told her.
The lady hit him over the head, not caring if there was now a large bump growing on his head. "No you didn't!" She climbed up the ladder that sat just below the neon painted sign. When she made it to the top, she pulled out a roll of measuring tape, measuring the distance between the top of the door and the bottom of the sign. She scuffed, going back down to stand over the young ninja. She held the final measurements before him, asking, "What does this say, boy?"
Naruto blinked, reading the numbers out loud. "3 and a ½ inches?"
"Exactly!" snapped the woman, hands now on her hips. "Three and a fucking half inches! NOT three inches like I specifically told you!"
"I don't see what the big deal is. Who cares if its a half an inch above your standards?"
The lady stood there, gasping at him. "Who cares? Who cares?! I fucking care that's who! I ask you to do one. Little. Thing. AND YOU CAN'T EVEN GET IT RIGHT!!"
"I'm sorry, okay. If it'll make you happy then I'll take it down and do it over."
Snorting and turning her back to the boy she gave him a growled, "Whatever. I doubt you can do it right this time around."
Grumbling to himself, Naruto went up the ladder for the who knows what time today, with his tools, preparing to take the sign down. There was just one problem; how? He'd never done anything like this before, in fact, just getting the sign up had taken the better part of the day. And seeing as it was leaning slightly (he was so grateful the shop owner hadn't noticed) he supposed he had did something wrong. There should seriously be a book on how to put signs up while you have an angry baker shop owner breathing down your neck.
The entire time, the woman stood there, criticizing him. It was too high. It wasn't straight. It should be more to the side. It clashed horribly with the building. Why did they send HIM to do the job? She could have done it better herself. If he dropped it she would have his head. He looked funny. He should stick to his day job. And so on and so forth.
When he finally finished, the sign was too low according to the woman. She wanted him to take it down and start all over again.
And Naruto, like a good little ninja, politely told her what he'd wanted to say since he'd been dragged here at four something this morning.
"OH MY FUCKING GOD!" he finally yelled, fed up with her nagging. "DO IT YOUR DAMN SELF!!!"
With such confusions don't it make you wanna scream
Make you wanna scream
Your bash abusin' victimize within the scheme
You try to cope with every lie they scrutinize
Somebody please have mercy 'cause I just can't take it
Stop pressurin' me
Just stop pressurin' me
Stop pressurin' me
Make me wanna scream
Stop pressurin' me
Just stop pressurin' me
Stop pressurin' me
Make you just wanna scream
"And you'll never believe what he did next," cried the baker lady the next day. "He called me a dirty whore and stormed off!"
The Hokage, who had calmly listened to the woman's rambling, sat up straight, eyes widening in shock. She turned her gaze to the gasping blonde standing not too far off to the side. "Is this true, Naruto?"She asked in all seriousness, eyes narrowed slightly.
"Of coarse not!" he yelled, pointing at the baker lady. "She's lying! I never called her that!"
"But you did leave before you finished your job," she stated more than asked.
"Well... yeah. But she kept yelling at me!"
"That's not a good reason for you to run off before completing your mission."
"But Baa-chan...!"
"Enough, Naruto. You're dismissed."
The youngest member in the room swallowed his complaints, knowing that it would do him no good to go against the Hokage's orders. Sending one last glare at the grinning raven haired woman, Naruto stomped his way out of the Hokage's office.
Outside of the Hokage Tower, a place he was absolutely sure he would resign in one day, Naruto all but screamed, "I'LL GET YOU BACK FOR THIS!!"
He was sure the baker lady heard him.
Tired of you tellin' the story your way
You're causin' confusion
You think it's okay
"I can't take this anymore!" three teens moaned, collapsing where they stood on the ground.
Sakura, who was the first to recover her breath, sat up, watching the kids continue to run around them. Sasuke sat up next, mimicking his female teammate. Naruto was the only who didn't even bother to try to sit up, instead he laid on his back, cursing every child within the area.
"Would someone please tell me WHY exactly did we accept this mission again?" moaned Naruto after almost getting trampled by a group of kids running by.
Sasuke and Sakura, who had also nearly avoided sudden death, shrugged.
"Kakashi-sensei said that this was more of a charity mission since the man couldn't afford to pay in full," explained Sakura. "We really couldn't turn such a mission down."
"Why not?!"
"Like doctors and lawyers sometimes do," begin Sasuke, "ninjas also take on mission for free from time to time for those who cannot pay. That's why they're called 'charity missions'."
"But why us?!" complained their blonde teammate, kicking and waving his arms around as he still lay on the ground.
"Well if someone hadn't pulled that prank on Ms. Baker Lady then we wouldn't be in this situation," accused two annoyed ninjas.
"Hey! She had it coming!" defended Naruto, finally sitting up like the rest of his team.
"Tsk, whatever."
"Hey, you guys wanna play with us?"
The three ninjas looked up to find a group of children -- all ranging from the ages of eight to ten-- standing before them, grinning. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke shivered, wanting to tell the "sweet" kids that they were exhausted and needed a break. However, they could not tell them that. Their mission had been to come here and entertain these balls of energy and if playing some game would keep them happy then they would play.
"So what are we playing this time?" Naruto asked as he and his teammates got to their feet, dusting off their rear ends.
"Sora just made up a new game," replied a red haired girl, Kairi was her name if they remembered correctly, pointing to a blushing brunet holding a beach ball almost as big as himself.
"Okay, so how do we play?" questioned Sakura, turning to Sora. Obviously if he made up the game then he's probably the only one who knows the rules.
"Well," began the boy, stepping forward, "it starts off like Hide-and-Seek. Whoever is It has to count to 300 while everyone else hides. The person who is It has to find the person with the beach ball." He held the colorful ball above his head. "If the person is caught with the ball then they're out."
"Then what's the point of having the ball?" Really this game sounded more and more stupid to Sasuke as Sora went on to explain.
"While the person is counting, everyone will chase each other around, throwing the beach ball at each other and trying to find a good hiding place. Whoever has the ball by the time It reaches 300 has to keep the ball and hide with the ball which is very hard since they can't blend in anywhere seeing how colorful and big the ball is." Sora sat the ball in front of himself, almost vanishing from view from behind it. He had to stand on the tip of his toes to see over it. "If whoever is It finds someone else that does not have the ball, that person who is found has to help It find the person with the ball. There can be up to twenty people helping It look for the ball but only after It finds them." (1)
"What's Home Base?" wondered Naruto.
Sora hummed, looking around. A light bulb seemed to go off as he pointed towards the school building. "You see the statues of the principles on the roof?" Everyone nodded. "That's base but no one can hide inside of the school or near it. And you can't use your ninja skill to transport up there or walk up the side of the building," he instructed, specifically talking to the three ninjas.
"Okay, I think I get it," said Naruto, scratching his head. "So who's It first?"
The group of kids looked at them, their grins returning. "You three are!"
Instead of complaining, the three Its made their way up to the roof of the school, following the rules and not just poofing up there.
A little while later, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke came rushing out the building, looking around for any kids. The area was completely empty, or so it would seem. They agreed to separate and in no time had almost rounded up every child but the one with the ball.
"Up here!!" came a boy's yell above them. The group on the ground looked up towards the school, seeing Sora waving at them from the roof with the beach ball. "You're It again! And now you have to look for us will walking like a dog!"
The teens moaned, going on top of the roof again to start the game all over.
As they continued to play the rules to the game got more and more ridicules. If they could not find three girls with blonde hair and two boys with red hair within the first five minutes, they had to start all over. The three Its could not separate. If one of the kids they found did not wear glasses then they had to do 500 push ups. They had to dance around when looking for the kids. They had to walk on their hands which made it almost impossible to catch the kids. If they fell while walking on their hands then the kids were allowed to put make-up on them and dress them up. Even if they did catch the kid with the ball, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura still had to be It because they were the oldest and -- supposedly -- had more stamina. On the rare chances that they found the kid with the ball first, the three ninjas had to climb on each others shoulders and play the next round like that.
"Oh my gosh! THIS GAME IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!" whined/yelled Naruto as he, along with Sasuke and Sakura crashed down to the ground. During the last game before they could find anyone else, they had found Riku with the ball within the first 30 seconds of the game. He said that he couldn't find a good spot but they suspected that the silver haired boy had made it easy to find him on purpose. The other two Kohona ninjas could only agree with their friend as they climbed back on top of one another and continued to play the weird game.
Keep changin' the rules
While you're playin' the game
I can't take it much longer
I think I might go insane
As punishment for spray painting the baker lady's house almost a week ago, Naruto had to work at her bakery until she felt that he'd paid off his debt.
Naruto grimaced. He was not good with measurements. He did not know how many centimeters where in an inch, how many inches in a foot, or how many feet were in a yard. He always went with what looked right. But, according to Sakura, when it came to cooking, everything had to be perfect or else nothing would taste right.
He looked over the recipe book again, just as confused now as he'd been not two seconds ago. The only thing he understood were the ingredients, which were already laid out before him.
He'd preheated the oven, lined the pan with aluminum foil, and coated it with vegetable cooking spray. That was probably as easy as it was going to get.
Next he began to follow the instructions, not really paying full (if any) attention to the required amount needed. For instance, he needed a pint -- which is like 3 and 1/4 cups -- of strawberries, stemmed and chopped. Instead he just put a cup of strawberries in the mixture and moved on.
When it was time to put it in the over, he looked to the book to see how long it was suppose to bake. To his horror, he found that there was a smug covering the time. He shrugged. He would take it out when it looked done.
Twenty minutes later, the baker lady -- he found out that her name was Kagome -- stepped into the room to check on him. Naruto was in the process of taking the cake out of the oven. It was over cooked and as hard as a rock. Naruto felt like screaming. He'd thought he had done it right this time.
"Can't you do ANYTHING right!?" screamed Kagome, smacking the tray from his hands.
"I'm trying, okay!"
She scuffed, rolling her eyes. "You're pathetic. Why can't you be a better ninja like Neji? Or Sasuke? Hell Shikamaru puts in half the effort and he's still a better ninja than you'll ever be!"
"THAT'S IT!" yelled Naruto, slamming his hand down on a nearby table. "If you love them so much why don't you hire them?"
"I will!" She pointed a polished red nail towards the front door of the shop. "Get out!"
"FINE!"
With such confusion don't it make you wanna scream
Make you wanna scream
Your bash abusin' victimize within the scheme
You find your pleasure scandalizin' every lie
Oh father, please have mercy 'cause I just can't take it
Stop pressurin' me
Just stop pressurin' me
Stop pressurin' me
Make me wanna scream
Stop pressurin' me
Just stop pressurin' me
Stop fuckin' with me
Make me wanna scream
Sighing, Naruto flopped down on the leather black couch that belonged to his male teammate. Today, Team 7, excluding Kakashi -- who was out on a mission -- had made plans to have dinner at Sasuke's apartment. It was the weekend and they had nothing better to do.
The owner of the apartment was currently no where to be seen; Naruto doubted the boy was even home. They hadn't planned to get together until a little after eight but he knew Sasuke would not mind him being there early.
Bored, Naruto turned on the tv, surfing through the channels. Nothing was on. Finally he settled on watching the news. There had to be something interesting going on somewhere in Kohona, right?
"Happy October 10th everyone!" cheered the news reporter. "This is Takeshi Saehara live just outside of Kohona at the annual Kyuubi Festival!" The camera man zoomed in to the area in the background. There were people dancing around a burning sculpture that looked like the nine tail demon. One shop was selling voodoo dolls that looked like Naruto. Another shop was selling candy with Naruto's face crossed out, like on the 'No Smoking' signs. Both stores were selling out fast. (2)
Naruto growled as more scenes flashed across the tv.
"Naruto?" Said boy turned to see his friend entering the room. Sasuke was in the process of removing his jacket when he'd spotted the younger boy spread across his couch. "What are you doing here so earlier?"
"I didn't have anything better to do."
"Oh. Well... I haven't started dinner yet but you can help yourself to anything in the kitchen."
"I'm not really in the mood to eat right now," whispered Naruto, standing up and stretching. "Is it okay if I crash in your room for a little while, Sasuke?"
"Uh... yeah, sure, Naruto. Are you okay?"
The blonde nodded. "Yeah, just a little disgusted with the people around here is all. Call me when Sakura gets here with the cake."
Sasuke blinked, watching his friend disappear down the hall. He then noticed that the television was on. Currently there was a child wearing a mask that looked like Naruto's face with a bunch of little kids chasing after the person, holding sticks and shouting hateful words. There parents stood back and applauded their children's great acting.
Anger boiling up inside of him, Sasuke stormed across the room to where Naruto had left the remote laying on the table. With one hard smash of the Power button, the tv was turned off.
"DON'T THOSE BASTARDS HAVE A HEART!?!?" He threw the remote to the ground, stomping it until almost nothing remained.
"Oh my God, can't believe what I saw
As I turned on the TV this evening
I was disgusted by all the injustice
All the injustice"
"All the injustice"
It had been a long day of training and Sakura, noticing how much Naruto's chakra control had increased, had offered to buy him ice cream. Her friend, over excited about free treats, had agreed and dragged her off to the nearest ice cream polar. Naruto ordered a banana split with the works. Sakura got a simple ice cream cone. After getting their ice cream, the two wondered over to an empty picnic table under a sakura tree.
"I'm sick of this!" growled Naruto half way through his desert.
"Sick of what, Naruto?" asked Sakura, an eyebrow arched.
Naruto spread his arms out at his side, waving them. "This village! These people! Everything!"
Sakura gave her strawberry flavored ice cream a lick before asking, "Why is that?"
"Everything I do is wrong in their eyes! They're all out to get me."
Another lick. "Now I think you're over reacting."
He shook his head. "If my eyes are closed too long when I blink they want to ship me off to jail! If I gain a little weight I'm a danger to society. If I want to be left alone I have to be planning something." He took a large bite of his ice cream, chewed it angrily, and then screamed when he got a brain freeze. Sakura, sitting across from him, laughed. Yes, she did enjoy her friend's pain when it wasn't anything serious.
"You want to know what I think?" She asked, reaching across the table to steal some of his dessert.
"Hey!"
"I think you should tell the next bastard that gets on your nerves to go fuck themselves with a knife."
Naruto flinched. "Ouch! Doesn't that seem pretty harsh, Sakura?"
"Who cares!" she snapped, slamming her fist on the wooden table. "After everything they put you through, a knife to the ass won't hurt them! Hell, I'll even pick the knife out for them." She leaned back, crossing her legs under the table and angrily licking at her melting treat.
Naruto silently took a few bites of his dessert, and then he looked up at his friend, a smile as big as his head spreading across his lips. "Thanks, Sakura. I don't know what I'd do without you and Sasuke."
"Probably, go crazy," she answered matter-of-factly. "So be a good kid, don't get into unnecessary mess, but even if you do, your little sister always got your back."
Naruto gave her a grateful smile, standing up. "Well I guess I'll go home and rest for a little while. We're all still meeting at the movies later, right?"
"Yeah. I want to see that new zombie movie so you better not be late!"
"I promise I will." He waved as he walked away, heading home.
Sakura watched him leave. She watched as others glared, snarled, and pointed at her best friend as he walked by. She watched as one individual had the nerves to walk up to Naruto and say some hurtful words based on the look on Naruto's face. She watched the blonde start to run home, undoubtedly trying not to cry.
She watched and she planned.
"OH THAT BASTARD IS GOING DOWN!!!" inner Sakura shouted, cracking her knuckles. Outer Sakura, however, remained calm as she popped the end of the cone in her mouth, rose from her seat, and stalked the guy home where she proceeded to torture him for the next 24 hours, only stopping to go to the movie theater to meet her teammates before returning to finish the job. She even invited Sasuke over to join the fun.
Itachi's Tsukuyomi ain't got nothing on those two! (3)
With such collusions don't it make you wanna scream
Your bash abusin' victimize within the scheme
You try to cope with every lie they scrutinize
Oh brother please have mercy 'cause I just can't take it
Stop pressurin' me
Just stop pressurin' me
Stop pressurin' me
Make me wanna scream
Stop pressurin' me
Just stop pressurin' me
Stop pressurin' me
Make me wanna scream
Stop pressurin' me
Just stop pressurin' me
Stop pressurin' me
Make me wanna scream
Stop pressurin' me
Just stop pressurin' me
Stop pressurin' me
Make me wanna scream
"Do you have anything you want to let out before we leave, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, knowingly, turning to his friend. They were standing on a hill over looking Kohona.
Tsunade, being the nice Hokage she likes to pretend to be at times, was sending Team 7 on a year long vacation over seas. She's notice that all the pressure the villagers were placing on her favorite ninja was really starting to bring him down. She had to send him away before he had some sort of nervous break down.
"Yeah..." Naruto whispered, looking over the town he loved to hate and hated to love. He took a deep breath, "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Ahead of them, Sakura and Kakashi jumped, looking towards their screaming teammate as if he'd (finally) lost his mind.
Sasuke smirked when the yelling stopped. "Hn... I couldn't have said it any better."
(1) I just totally made this game up off the top of my head so its ok if you don't understand it (I don't really get it myself)
(2) Oct. 10th is Naruto's birthday
(3) Tsukuyomi, when executed, the jutsu traps the target in an illusionary world that is completely controlled by the user. Itachi usually uses it to torture his target(s). It first appeared in episode 82 of the anime and in chapter 142 of the manga.
Please leave a review. If you don't then I'll get the impression that no one likes it and I'll probably stop writing. And if you seriously must flame, then flame the story DO NOT bad mouth Michael! Damnit have some type of respect for the man!