I checked through my bag, making sure I had everything; Kunai, shuriken, bandages, study guide. All checked and accounted for. I was buzzing with nervous excitement, today was the graduation exams. I believed I could pass, but I was still nervous. What if I did the wrong hand sign or jumbled up my words? What if-
Relax and breathe. Panicking solves nothing. Right, I took a deep breath and relaxed. i could do this. Suddenly, a knock sounded on my door.
"Shizu, hurry up! We're gonna be late!" Naruto. I almost forgot we decided to walk down together.
"Coming!" I closed my bag and headed to the door. Don't forget his lunch. I grabbed it from the table, stuffed my shoes on and opened the door. I was greeted with a grinning, vibrating ninja. "Hey, Naruto," I say as I close and lock my door.
"Sheesh, what took you so long? Were you talking to yourself?" He said, crossing his arms and pouting. My heart clenched. I was about to respond, but he moved on. "Nevermind, come on we're gonna be late!"
With that I found myself being dragged down the street and breathing a sigh of relief. "You know we have twenty minutes, right?"
"Oh, really?" he slowed down, letting me catch myself.
"Let me guess, your watch broke again," I said, crossing my arms.
He chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head.
I sighed and rolled my eyes, "I swear, you'd break your head if you could. Come on, I'll get you a new one later." I grabbed his arm and started walking.
"Thanks, Shizu."
"No problem." You're probably wondering why I'm being so nice to him. Well, it's a long story...though we do have twenty minutes so I guess I have time.
A couple years ago, I met this boy in an alley. I was on my way home from class when I heard angry voices.
[Flashback Starts]
I turned the corner to see a few drunks all crowded in a circle. One suddenly lashed out and kicked whatever was in the middle of them.
"You punk! Why don't you just go die!" A loud snap and a pained cry was the only response.
"Ha, let me have a whack at the demon brat," one of the men shift aside, allowing me to see what they were attacking. One the ground, cowering, was a little boy in orange. I could see red on parts of his already dirty clothes. His face was bruised and bloody as well. I had seen this kid around, I couldn't remember his name though. Everyone was mean to him, for reasons I didn't know, but it had to be a good reason right? I was about to turn away when big blue eyes locked on me, determined, stubbornness and something I couldn't quite put my finger on. Next thing I knew, I was standing over him and the drunks were on the ground out cold.
I looked around confused, "How did-"
"W..who are you?" I turned to see Naruto looking up at me. He was tense, like he was ready to run.
I smiled gently at him. "I'm Shizuka Okami, but," I noticed his arm was shaped strangely, "you're arm." I crouched down and reached out towards him, but he flinched away.
"Please don't hurt me!" He was trembling. He held his arm close to him body, pain clear on his face. Distract him. What's his name?
"Naruto Uzumaki," I said. He looked at me, confused. "Th..that's your name right? Sorry, I couldn't remember it till now."
"Uh..Yeah, that's right," he said, nodding.
"Of course, I see you in class. You always pull funny pranks on people," I said.
"You think they're funny?" Move beside him. I do, while nodding.
"Of course, they're hilarious."
"But all the others get angry, especially when the class gets in trouble because of it," he said, looking away from me. My hands moved of their own accord, gently taking his arm. He tensed, eyes snapping to look at me. I smiled at him and stuck my tongue out.
"That's because they don't have a good sense of humor. If they did, I think they'd be nicer too." I pushed his sleeve up, revealing a gash. I grimaced, I could already tell it was broken too. I started by cleaning up the wound
"H..hey! What are you doing?" He tried to pull away, but I kept a firm grip.
"Hold still, dummy, or you're gonna make it worse." I continued to treat him. He seemed to notice this and calm down.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" He asked.
I shrug, "You've given me no reason to be mean to you. You want a friend, you're loyal and kind, even when others are mean to you. Figured you deserve kindness from at least one person." I finished wrapping his arm. "There. You hurt anywhere else?" I looked him in the eyes again.
He looked at his arm, moving it experimentally, before shaking his head.
I smiled, "Good. Well, I better go." I started to get up, but he grabbed my arm.
"Wait, I just...I know this really good ramen place. We should go sometime..." he trailed off.
"Hm, I don't know. You free tonight?" I said. His face broke into a grin and he jumped up.
"Yeah! Come on, I'll show you." He ran off. I yelped as he dragged me after him. My arm was still in his grip after all. He paused, just as we left the alley. "Oh thank you, Shizu," he looked at me and smiled.
"You're welcome, Naruto."
[End Flashback]
A/N I've been rewatching Naruto so I decided to write a fanfiction for it. Please like the story if you enjoyed and comment any tips or favorite parts. Thank you for reading!