Chapter 1: The Cry of Friendship
"Get outta here!"
"Yeah, no one wants to be around you!"
"Leave, you stupid kid!"
The crowd of boys started throwing tiny rocks at the blonde-haired kid. They were fed up with the little runt always following them and trying to be friends with him. They wanted to get rid of him once and for all. They threw as many rocks as they could to make the little boy leave, and it worked! The 7-year old blonde ran away from the group, tears streaming down his cheeks and into the air. The others stood there and smiled. They were finally rid of that annoying boy.
The messy-haired blonde just kept running. Where to….. no one knew. He passed by villagers in the streets. Some of them looked at the boy in anger, some with fear, and others just didn't look at him at all. The boy just kept on running… running… running. Soon he ran into a small forest, with tall trees and a few bushes. He slowly walked towards one of the trees and leaned his back against it. He slid down to the ground and hugged his knees. He rested his head onto his knees and sobbed violently. Why doesn't anyone want to be around me? he thought. What did I ever do to anybody? He sat there and cried, cried until he heard something behind him.
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"Okay, I'll see you guys later!" the girl said as she walked away from her friends. She was walking home, but she wanted to make one last stop next to a tiny forest. She traveled far away from where she was supposed to go. Once she was near her destination, she grabbed a bag full of bird seeds. She pulled out a tiny handful and extended her hand out into the air, her palm face up with seeds. It wasn't long before a couple of her bird friends swooped down and started eating the seeds.
"Wow, you guys really like this stuff." She said as the birds cleaned her hand until there weren't any seeds left. The birds cooed for more. "Alright, just a little bit more," she said, "but that's it. You're gonna have to wait until tomorrow morning for your next meal from me." She poured a tiny pile of bird seeds, and the birds ate slowly. When the seeds were all gone, the birds flew around her to thank her and flew away into the forest. "See you two tomorrow!" She yelled as she waved her hand. She was just about to leave when she heard crying.
The raven-haired girl looked around to see who it was, but nobody was in sight. She followed the noise and found a blonde-haired kid sitting behind a tree. He had a river of tears on his face and a pool of water under. His clothes were wet, too. The girl didn't know what to do. She didn't know who the boy was, and she can't help out a total stranger. But the kid looked so sad. What happened to him? she thought to herself. She stepped forward, but broke the silence as she cracked a twig with her foot. She was startled and hid behind the tree, the same tree that the boy was sitting next to.
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"Wh-who's there?" the little boy asked. He got up and looked around him. He didn't see anyone in sight. The girl peeked out from behind the tree and saw the boy standing up. He was the same height as her. The little boy turned his head and saw a glimpse of the girl. The girl hid back behind the tree, scared to approach the young boy. "Hello?" he asked as he was walking around the tree trunk. The girl heard his footsteps and began to walk around the tree trunk the opposite way. The boy got around to the opposite side of the tree, but he didn't see anyone. "Who's there? Th-this isn't funny." The boy stated walking backwards. The girl looked around to the other side of the tree and didn't see anyone. She was about to leave when her back ran into the boy's back. They both jumped and faced each other. The boy had his fists up, while the girl held up karate chop arms. The boy finally saw who it was… a girl. He lowered his fists to get a better view of her. The girl did the same.
"So, did you come to make fun of me?" he said defensively. The girl stared at him with confusion.
"Wh-what?" she said, "Why would I make fun of you?"
The boy became a little angrier, "Don't play dumb with me! Everyone else has made fun of me, just 'cause I have no friends. No one ever wants to be friends with me. They always tell me to leave, or they throw stuff at me, or they stare at me with those eyes… those stupid eyes" The boy began to cry a little bit, and the girl seemed shocked.
What has this boy gone through? she thought.
"I know you came to make fun of me," he continued, "Everyone else has. So, c'mon, make fun of me. You wouldn't be the first person…" The boy sniffed while he was talking. The girl could see that he was on the verge of bawling again. She lowered her guard and walked over to him.
The boy seemed confused. The raven pulled out a piece of tissue and handed it to him. "Here, you look like you're about to cry…a-again." She said. The blonde looked down at the tissue, then back up at the girl.
"Wh-what are you doing?" he said, "I thought you were… gonna make fun of me."
The girl stared into his ocean blue eyes. She knew that this boy had been hurt really bad. "I don't make fun of people." She said, "I treat others the way I would want to be treated." She smiled at him. He looked at her pale lavender eyes and, for some odd reason, knew that she was telling the truth. The boy lowered his guard and took the tissue that was in her hand. He wiped his tears away and blew his nose.
The girl giggled and looked straight at him. "Hey, I…I never did ask for your name." The boy looked up at her and, for the first time that day, he smiled.
"My name is Naruto." he told her.
"Naruto, huh?" she said, "Well, hi Naruto. My name is Hinata." Hinata looked at Naruto and held her hand out, waiting for him to shake her hand. Naruto looked at her hand, and grabbed it, shaking it lightly.
"Say…how old are you?" she asked him, finally noticing his height again. Naruto was a little alarmed by the question.
"I'm 7." He responded.
"Oh, you're the same age as me!" she said, showing a surprised face. Naruto was a bit surprised, too. No one my age is ever nice to me he thought.
"You're surprised…?" Hinata asked.
"Well, yeah… a little," Naruto said as he looked down, "No one my age ever really talks to me." Hinata was a bit taken aback by this. She moved a little closer to Naruto to get a better view of his height. Yep, he's the same height as me she thought.
"So, Naruto… why are people being mean to you?" she said as she sat down, leaning back on the tree. Naruto sat down next to her, looking sad.
"I…I don't know." He said softly.
"Come on, you can tell me." Hinata stared at him.
"But, I really don't know." Naruto said while looking down at the ground, "Ever since I was born, no one's ever been nice to me. I've lived on my own mostly, and I've never met my parents."
Hinata stared at him for a while. Never met his parents? That must be awful!
"The only person that ever really cares for me was my sensei, Iruka." he continued, "He's pretty cool." Hinata grabbed an apple out of her bag and split it in half.
"You look hungry. Here, you want half?" Naruto looked at the apple and gladly took it. They both ate in silence for a while until Naruto spoke.
"You know, you're the first person that's ever been nice to me… well, besides Iruka-sensei." He grinned and slightly laughed at his own joke.
Hinata smiled again, "Well, f-friends are supposed to be nice to each other, right?" Naruto looked up at her, surprised by the words that came out of her mouth.
"Y-y-you consider m-me a-a friend?" Naruto stuttered out of his mouth.
"Sure I do." Hinata responded, "I-I know whoever is being mean to you is…missing out on a r-really cool friend."
Naruto's eyes widened and, soon, welled up with tears. Hinata was a little scared, knowing that he cried when he was sad. "I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't m-mean to make you cr-cry!" she stumbled out of her mouth.
Naruto smiled and wiped his eyes, "I'm not crying 'cause I'm sad…it's just… that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me." Hinata sat there in shock.
He really wasn't kidding when he said no one was nice to him. Naruto looked at her, thinking that she dozed off into space
"Hey, are you all right?" he asked her.
Hinata smiled, "Yeah I'm fine." Naruto thought of an idea and held his pinky finger out in the air. "What are you doing?" Hinata asked. Naruto grinned.
"Hey, you wanna be best friends?"
Hinata raised her eyebrow, reacting from the very strange question. "Um……okay." Hinata answered.
Naruto grinned even wider than before, "So, if you wanna be best friends, you gotta pinky promise that we'll be best friends forever." Hinata looked down at his pinky. She thought about what the promise was.
Best friends forever…… well, he's not that bad of a person……ah, what the heck. Hinata took her pinky and locked it with his.
"Best friends forever?" Naruto asked.
"Best friends forever." She responded. Hinata and Naruto looked at each other and smiled.