A/N: Hello! And welcome to my first ever fan-fic! After many, many years of reading them, I've surprised myself by deciding to finally write one of my own. Just a short one, though... Gonna be two parts, I figure. Let's hope it goes well!
Disclaimer: Naruto and all other recognizable names and characters do not belong to moi.
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Monster in the Mirror - Part 1
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Naruto just couldn't see it!
A small frown creased his brow as he continued to observe his reflection, squinting his eyes in concentration. Turning his head from side to side, he made a mental inventory of his face.
Bright blue eyes, spiky blonde hair... Well, that couldn't explain it. Ino-chan was blonde and blue-eyed too, and he knew she didn't get any trouble for it. She seemed quite proud of how she looked, actually. So it had to be something else...
Naruto's gaze wandered to his lightly tanned skin, small nose, and round cheeks. Those weren't unusual at all, he was sure. His ears did stick out a bit, he supposed...
He pouted. Could it be that, maybe, he was just really ugly?
He suddenly blushed, a brief memory from his first day of school popping into his mind. Hinata-chan, a very shy girl with dark hair and pale eyes, had come up to him on the playground after class. Her fingers had fidgeted with the hem of her jacket before she had looked up and said to Naruto (so quietly that he had nearly leaned off the seat of the swing to hear her) that she thought he was "c-c-cute"!
He had grinned widely at her in response, surprised and flattered - no one had ever said anything like that about him before! But before he could say anything, a tall man had gripped Hinata-chan by the elbow and dragged her away from him, leaving him with one of the many terrible glares he would receive from his class-mates' parents and guardians...
Anyway, Hinata-chan didn't say very much (especially not to him, not after that day) but when she did, she always seemed to try and say what she thought was true- and she had said he was cute! She wouldn't lie, not her, so he couldn't be that ugly...
Then what could it be? What was it?
Naruto huffed in frustration, deciding to finally give up this self-inspection in the bathroom mirror. He hopped off the rickety stool in front of his sink, giving himself one last, scrutinizing glance.
As he headed to bed, Naruto decided that he looked like a normal six year-old boy. So what was it about him that made strangers call him a "monster"?
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A/N: That's all for now! I hope you enjoyed your read! I would love to hear your thoughts on my neglected creative-writing skills, haha... Let me know about any typos! They are such a pet-peeve of mine, gah...
Hm, I could end this here, I suppose... I think it would work well as a one-shot, but I do have more planned for little Naruto. Things are gonna get much darker, though... Stay tuned if you're prepared for some violence, and more angst! I'll update as soon as I can. ^_^