Shikamaru was right.
There really is nothing better than lying around all day; doing nothing. I've been sighing a lot lately, breathing is hard, eating is… well. Why am I even doing this? Maybe I should just end it…
It's been two years, three months, seven hours, forty-five minutes, and six seconds since Naruto landed in this world. The sky was as blue as the one back home, the only difference was the forest of concrete and metal, cars; technology. This world was peaceful, it had different problems than his own.
The music next door wouldn't stop blaring, his sensitive ears picking every note, every inconsistency and it was irritating him to no end.
'Maybe I should conquer this world and ban music.'
His laughter turned manic for a few seconds, Madara would have rated eight out of eight. It had often passed his mind, lurking underneath the rancid thoughts and self-loathing madness. Especially recently when that infuriating woman moved next door. He could hear everything she did through the flimsy walls of his dirty apartment. She had normal people problems. Her boyfriend was cheating on her and her job was going to shit.
'Not my business.'
If, for some reason a stranger was asked about the strange man who lived in apartment 8-b of Baba Chiyo's apartment complex, they would say that they never saw such a person, neither heard of him. Most thought he was a shut-in with some tragic past. They were right. If, for some reason a stranger was asked where that shut-in, societal dead weight came from, they'd say he came from some western county. They would be wrong.
Naruto lit another cigarette, the last of his pack. He never thought he'd be smoking, but really, it was such an enjoyable habit and he'd never get sick because of it. Some would say it was in the genes, others would call him too fit. The truth is that his body just works differently. When he visited the hospital he had to genjutsu half the staff, because apparently his metabolism was superheating his body to temperatures that would mean death for anybody else on this world. On the plus side he discovered the reason he never felt cold back home.
The blonde had often been alone throughout his life. Well, the right term would be lonely, not alone. Because he always had someone in a moderate distance away from him. The Hokage was the first, then Iruka, his team, Kakashi, then Hinata. But, he always felt alone and lonely, even during the heated nights he had with her. Now though, Naruto was literally alone. The planet was empty, the stars even the galaxy; he stood there alone, in the middle of the universe.
Unique and alone.
The skin on his finger got burned slightly. The cigarette's ash fell down. He hadn't had a single puff of it. With a sigh he tried to pick another.
[Scene 1 -end-]
[Scene 2 -start-]
Ami Ringo had a bad day. Scratch that, Ami Ringo had a bad month. It all started when she walked in on her fiancé banging that bitch of his. She had come to Tokyo right after high school to attend university. One thing led to another and she met Hiro through a friend. He talked her into marrying him, she stopped attending classes, but it was all great until she walked in on them. The nineteen-year-old's wanderlust dissipated faster than a defective firecracker. With reality smacking her in the face and her parents non-existent support, she rented an apartment and found a part-time job in a seven-eleven.
Damn it!
She sighed again -for some reason she couldn't stop doing that, her boss would glare at her every time she did it in front of a customer. Her pack of cigarettes was getting empty, she pulled one- a single one left, and made a mental note to buy another one.
The music helped numb her overworking brain, the interfering self-loathing-chatter would go silent when the music echoed throughout her tiny apartment. She walked outside to her balcony, lit her cigarette and drew the smoke in, holding it there, letting it hit the spot. With a satisfied smile she blew the smoke out, trying miserably to create a smoke ring. She heard a sigh next to her, that's when she saw him.
A gasp almost escaped her lips, was there really a neighbor next door? She had never seen or heard anyone. Her cheeks turned scarlet when she realized that her over-the-top girly music blared daily and was most likely heard by this stranger. He hadn't paid her any attention; neither did it seem that he noticed her at all. She took a few moments to observe him.
His blonde, shaggy, unkempt hair surrounded and covered most of his forehead, the rest was clumsily tied in a ponytail. He was wearing a dark gray t-shirt and baggy orange pants that were tied at the ankles. She could tell that he was fit, his back was wide but there were no muscles bulging anywhere.
"Yo." The lazy drawl brought her out of her daydream. She looked up at his face, slightly surprised, she lost all feelings of wonder and awe when she looked at that face. It could have been called cute; handsome even. What with the whisker-like marks and whatnot.
"Wh- what?" she stumbled over herself, trying not to look like a deer caught in the headlights.
"I asked. Do you have a smoke?" he repeated, voice drawling lethargically over her. She had to fumble around in order to find the pack of cigarettes she held in her hand. It was some mint variation of Marlboro but Naruto didn't particularly care, walking outside to buy a new pack seemed way more troublesome. "Here, sorry." She giggled awkwardly. The nice guy in him wanted to refuse now that he knew it was her last one, but he quickly squashed his sentimentality and accepted.
"I didn't know there was someone living next door…" she mumbled almost apologetically, "… Does the music disturb you?"
This was the moment, he could finally rest in peace. Away from the awful sounds of her so called music. However, his mouth always ran faster than his brain- this time being no exception.
"Nah, it's fine. Thanks." he instantly cringed and berated himself.
[Scene 2 –end-] [Scene 3 –start-]
It all has to be a conspiracy. Back home a mere ink blob planned and guided entire generations towards an ultimate master-plot. So it could stand to reason, that here, in the land of weaklings, I am part of a conspiracy. In a world where you can't get a job unless you spend a third of your life inside institutions that teach you how to live. That's indoctrination if I ever saw one. Rules on how to act, think, move, react. When to sleep, eat, train. Who to love, who to avoid. All subliminally passed around him through the internet, the media. Laws, accidents. All tied in a big net of information with just the right amount of deceit. Yes. This world had its own ink-blob somewhere. Pulling the strings of every human atop this planet's surface… And he was the only one who knew it...
"You have to save the planet Naruto!" a squeaky tiny voice.
Naruto puzzled, looked around to find the source. "Here! Down here!" His cigarette spoke to him… Wait. "…You finally found the answer Naruto! You have to save them! These weaklings can't protect themselves! So you gotta' help 'em. Ya'know?"
"Why would I help 'em?"
A deeper voice; his fridge deigned to answer him. "Because if you don't… then who will?" And it made his bones rattle and teeth squeak under the pressure of his jaw.
"I gave enough!" he roared at his council, composed of dirty dishes and silverware, his fridge and now his long diseased cigarette- 'rest in peace, Marlboro-san, you tasted like shit'.
"… I have spent my life giving and giving and giving some more, until my skin broke, until my bones cracked, and I emptied my veins off blood and my skin off sweat. I was but a dead man walking among those alive! Now you want me to save those monkeys? Who look like me? Smell like me? Talk like me? But they might as well be normal toads compared to my summons." The council stood silent, looking at him wide eyed and scared. "Never!"
And just like that he woke up, sweat covering him from head to toe, he was trembling in anger. His eyes landed on his burly fridge. Yeah, he needed a new one.
He tried to light another cigarette but remembered he had none remaining and laid back on the hard wood floor. Long forgotten memories of a child crying in front of a crowd, voices laced with loathing muttering various conundrums.
"Monster…". They had said back then in unison.
The child cried and cried and cried, until there were no more tears to shed. Then the child frowned and frowned and frowned, until his jaw started hurting and fear of it staying like that forever forced him to smile.
And then he glared and glared and glared, until his eyes hurt too much so he was forced to often squint them and look elsewhere when glared upon.
Then the child grew up and those expressions and antics became commonplace, his hate got buried deep in his mind and almost forgotten and the only thing left was to serve those who loathed him, because killing them seemed impossible anyway. By the time he could follow through it was all forgotten and buried, only love remained because everything else was lost.
So the child grew up, loving those who hated him, protecting those who despised him, and befriending those who attacked him. Obsessing over those who never cared for him and abandoning those who loved him. Naruto Uzumaki's existence was like that of a salmon who swims against the river's flow. Trying to find its origin, fighting against time. Only Naruto Uzumaki ended up being pushed downstream and up a different river, much too far away to return, with too many questions to ask; and no one to answer them. So when his struggle turned meaningless for the first time Naruto Uzumaki gave up, and let the flow guide him back to the ocean.