How to Survive
Talk just loud enough that they never wonder what you have to say, but never say anything so deep they think about it too much. Life is full of meaningless words.
Show up just often enough that they don't look for you, but never stay long enough that they have a chance to observe you. Life is full of meaningless meetings.
Cry when life is sad, then they will find nothing odd in your tears.
Laugh when life is happy, so you blend into the crowd.
Never love so much that you feel you would die without something, it will be your undoing.
Never hate anything so much that it takes your mind, your mind is the last freedom that has not yet been taken.
Remember everything, your enemies are watching.
Empty your mind, ignorance is a mercy to your friends.
Smile and laugh from the bottom of your heart, you never know when dark clouds will descend.
Keep yourself removed from all life around you, like a silent specter; icy indifference is the only way to survive.
Ignore all advice, it is given by fools.
I learned each rule so long ago, each rule through sweat and blood. Each is a scar cut deep into my heart; cut so deep I am now in pieces, too small to be recognized. That's why they don't know me anymore. Or perhaps they never did. If there is no one around to remember your name, do you exist anymore? I don't remember anymore.
I only exist to blend in, to not be seen. They don't see me; they don't know who I am, and I don't want them to. I follow the rules; I follow them so well that they are the very embodiment of "me." Whatever I am, I know "I" will not go the way of the others.
Perhaps I should feel bad for the new ones, the little ninja running around without a clue. They don't know pain, they were born without it. They were born without the knowledge to protect themselves, without the scars that would guard them from any pain. Perhaps it is paradoxical of me to long for pain as protection. Without these scars, however, I would never have broken. I would still be vulnerable. My time to suffer is over, and for that, I am always grateful for the rules.
These ninja have no knowledge, and so it must fall to me to teach them, mustn't it? One in particular, he knows pain, better maybe than even me, but her refuses to learn from it. He ignores his pain, and he breaks every rule there is. His pain will not help him survive. If he wishes to be a seasoned ninja, Uzumaki Naruto will have to acknowledge his pain; he will have to be friends with it. Uzumaki Naruto must love his pain if he wants to survive.
But he does not follow the rules.