Spring brings with it new life, and the blossoming of flowers.
Springtime, and Autumn, both are Naruto's favorite seasons. He didn't hate Winter, or Summer, but neither did have a special love for the hot and cold.
Out in a field several children were playing in the open warmth of the sun. Not among them, Naruto, who was standing by a tree watching as children talked to each other, and ran around. He stood there, feeling the tree he had taken some shelter under.
He loved the smell of nature, and often it wasn't he was shy, he just liked the open fields better than being around people. He always took particular care to make sure he wasn't too far away from everyone, but not always within sight either.
Naruto walked behind the tree, and slid himself down the bark, and rested against it. He closed his eyes, and let the sound filter through his ears, and only could imagine what was out in the field in front of him.
He imagined bugs, mostly crickets, scampering about in the brush. The long bugs, known as stick bugs, hanging on the tree above him. The blonde probably even thought of a few wild dogs, or maybe even a ferret running about in the field somewhere.
His imagination didn't stop there, he imagined himself being able to run with them, speak to them. His eyes fluttered as he imagined them. How they would act around him, and even what it would be like to be one of them.
His hands gripped the grass beneath him, and he opened his eyes he saw the fields once more. Himself, still sitting under the tree. Something was a little off however, the wind, it had changed. Once blowing northwards, now it blew to the east.
Spring air, as he commonly knew it, was like warm delightful breeze. The breeze had changed, he felt it subtly, it had become cold like ice. The tree wasn't the only shade in the field now, hundreds of shades were formed from the clouds above.
The roaring of thunder soon followed, making Naruto shake. He quickly got up, and watched as the clouds gathered more, and more. Rain soon pelted the field, making some of the children holler out in both excitement, and anguish at being wet.
The blonde quickly jogged back to the others, his balance keeping himself from tripping over any small holes in the field.
"Okay children, that's enough for today, everyone come along now!" Nyodai politely yelled, and watched as Naruto was still running from the tree he had been sitting.
"Only now do you gather with other children, Naruto, do you hate them?" She pondered.
The blonde finally made it back to the front gates to the orphanage, and he saw the clouds began another chorus of thunder, and lightning.
Naruto was currently sitting down at a large dinner table, among the table was various other children who were excited about dinner for tonight. It was rumored that a local restaurant from The Village was going to be making food,
The young blonde was sitting next to a girl who wore a plain tan yellow trousers and a brown T-shirt, along with two other boys wearing the same kind of clothing with different coloring. One boy was wearing a red trouser, with a red shirt. Another, boy, with unkempt hair, was wearing a blue trouser with a gray shirt.
"Yuki, what do you think The Headmistress got us for The Summer Solstice?" The girl inquired to the unkempt haired boy sitting across from her.
"Who cares, I don't really see the point of caring what we get…it'll probably be something that'll make us full." Yuki replied as he just sighed, and looked at his empty bowl.
"You say it as if you don't really care if they feed us at all." The other boy commented, as he crossed his arms.
"Oh trust me, I do care, but don't get your hopes up. After all, let's look at it this way…we're getting food. Be happy with that Lee, besides you waste your time studying for The Academy entrance exams anyway, they only take people that can pay the fee." Yuki brutally explained his reasoning.
"I study hard for a future, with or without family, and you should do the same!" Lee argued as he slammed his right fist into his open left palm.
"Wonder what this blonde kid thinks, eh, well?" Yuki looked at Naruto, who looked around before pointing at himself.
"No, the other blonde in this room." Yuki snidely commented. "Well?"
"Yuki, that blonde kid…um, he can't…well." The girl stammered, she looked towards the blonde who just sighed.
"Well what, come on, he's more than capable for answering for himself. How old could he be, one?" Yuki kept commenting, failing to see the blonde ball his fist up.
"Tenten, just leave it, Yuki can't see past his own pity anyway." Lee commented as he went back to reading a book in his lap.
"But, Lee, that kid can't talk." Tenten finally stated, making Yuki snicker.
"Oh, dang, that sucks. So, um, how old are you kid?" Yuki inquired from the blonde.
Naruto held up three fingers, and smiled, hoping for a good conversation even if it was limited.
"Oh, that's great, I'm six. Let me tell ya, you're finished." Yuki suddenly snidely remarked.
"Yuki!" Tenten exclaimed in anger.
"No, no, little guy has to hear it. You see blondie, the simple fact is no one wants a broken kid…let alone an older kid. They want little ones, like one year olds…two year olds, and the ones that get picked are like dogs chose in a kennel in this place." Yuki explained. "And, you not being able to utter a word…that's the biggest handicap I ever sa-ahh!"
Naruto had enough, his anger took over, and with one violent swing from his right arm he sent his right fist as hard as he could into Yuki's nose. The older kid fell out his chair, while still sat in his with his arm outstretched, tears were slowly leaking from his eyes. His lips quivered, as if he was trying to sobbingly speak, but couldn't.
"Naruto!" The Headmistress shouted as she walked over to him. "Get out of the dining room, go to your room this instant!"
The blonde shakenly brought his arm back to his side, and just slowly got out of his seat. Tears spilled out of his eyes, and he slowly began to walk away from the table. The Headmistress looked at Yuki, who was using the sleeve of his shirt to keep blood from dripping on the floor.
Naruto got into his room, and slammed the door shut, and just looked at himself in a small mirror that laid on the desk.
"I-is he really right, am I broken child?" Naruto inquired about himself as he looked at his own features in the mirror.
"Ahhh." Naruto tried to speak.
"Raaaaaahhhh." Naruto tried to once more, but found his voice way to raspy and hard to form a single word with.
The blonde just sat there, before his fists balled up, and he tried once more.
"Ahhhhh." Naruto began to get angry again. "Ahhhh!"
"I am not broken!" Naruto yelled inside of his head, before punching his mirror, sending the small trinket against the wall and falling behind the desk.
He began to slam his hands against the table, sobbing as he continued to slowly, and futilely trying to speak.
"I'm not broken, I'm not broken!" Naruto continued to speak into his mind as he slammed his hands once more into the desk.
Finally, he just sighed, tears running down his face. He got up from the desk, and looked at his hands. There were pieces of glass, very small pieces, stuck in his index finger and thumb. Biting his lip, and holding back any sobs, he slowly pulled it out.
When he pulled the glass out he just laid it on the desk, and just looked at his hand. The wound, like any other wound he had, slowly hissed as it began to heal. He wondered if Yuki was healing from his decked face at the moment, making Naruto for one instant forget about his own suffering.
Did he find pleasure in the fact he punched Yuki, no, but did he feel comfortable with it?
Naruto slowly got up from his desk, and slowly towards his bed. He took off the top covers, and began to crawl into it when a knock was heard at the door.
"Naruto…it's me, Nyodai. You okay, can you unlock the door please?" Naruto's eyes darted open, and he quickly walked over to the door.
He quickly unlatched it, and opened it. He saw Nyodai standing there, a concerned look stretch over her face.
"Naruto, are you okay?" She inquired as she stepped into the room.
The blonde merely just shrugged, and just shuffled his way back towards his bed. His stomach was slightly growling, as he had left the dining room without grabbing anything to eat. It didn't go unnoticed by Nyodai, and she sighed a little.
"What happened Naruto, I heard you got into a fight, is that true?" Naruto looked at her, and frowned a little bit, expecting more punishment.
"I didn't mean too, I…I don't know what happened." Naruto wanted to say, but he just looked at Nyodai.
"Okay, Naruto, I know you…what's wrong?" Nyodai asked as she noticed Naruto had some tears well up into his eyes.
He got up from the bed, slowly walking to towards his desk, and Nyodai watched as he bent down to grab something. She almost gasped at the sight of the mirror she had given him, completely shattered. Naruto shook a little as he made his way back besides Nyodai, before watching some tears leave his eyes.
"Did you…break that Naruto?" Nyodai inquired, receiving a nod from Naruto.
She watched as the boy slowly pointed at the mirror, then back to himself. She noticed the look in his eyes, it was one of questioning, and the second time he did the motion she almost cried herself.
"Is he asking me if he's broken, just like the mirror?" Nyodai questioned herself, and looked as Naruto shook with the mirror in his hand.
"Naruto…are you asking me, seriously asking me, that you are broken?" The blonde bit his lip, and nodded.
Naruto nodded, and Nyodai looked at him. This had been a boy she had personally watched take his first little steps he had ever taken. A boy once it was known he'd never be able to speak, thanks to both internal and outside factors, she shed tears for.
She knew her answer to the question, and it was gut wrenching.
"Yes…" Nyodai answered, watched the horror creep onto Naruto's face.
Naruto closed his eyes, sobbing silently as he crashed into Nyodai's shoulder. She held the boy close, and slowly rocked him back and forth. She rubbed his hair, clutching him like a mother would. She felt him choking on some of the sobs.
"Shh…shh…Naruto, shhh." She calmed the young blonde. "It's going to be okay, I promise."
Nyodai kept ahold of Naruto, and slowly let her grip go when he slowly stopped crying.
An hour had gone by, and Nyodai helped Naruto picked up pieces of the broken mirror, and she smiled at him. The blonde, though heartbroken, found some strength to smile back at her.
"Naruto, what I said earlier. Being broken isn't always a bad thing." Naruto snapped his head towards her.
"Broken can mean many things Naruto, a broken trust, a broken toy, a broken glass, even a mirror. However, Naruto what is broken, can always be fixed or made into something else." Nyodai explained. "So when I said yes, I didn't mean to hurt you, but you are broken…but I want to fix you."
Naruto looked at her, his cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, but nonetheless he just smiled. She noticed the toothy grin, one he always gave when he was truly happy, and she patted his ruffled his hair a little.
"Come along now, let's get this cleaned up, and I'll take you down to get something to eat myself. In fact, I think you may like what we got tonight." Nyodai told Naruto as she crossed her arms a little bit.
Naruto gasped a little bit in excitement, and began to hurry up more, soon finishing up the glass cleanup.
Naruto was eating some noodles out of a bowl, he and Nyodai had walked out of the dining room. Most of the children were outside, save Yuki who had got put into his room as well. Apparently some of the other kids Naruto had sat by told on him.
The blonde made a mental note to find some way of saying thank you, but right now he was watching Nyodai eat her own bowl.
"Good?" Naruto nodded at her question. "Splendid."
"It's called Ramen, it was made by a man name Teuichi and his daughter Ayame. They own a small shop in The Village, if you would like next week we could visit." Nyodai watched as Naruto nodded, and smiled as he slurped down some noodles.
"Good, hey Naruto, don't you know your name is actually a topping for Ramen?" Nyodai said, and watched as Naruto's face lit up.
She plucked a piece of naruto out of her ramen, and held it up for Naruto to see. The small white sponge of food had a red swirl mark inside of it, and Naruto looked down at his bowl. Noticing some of the same toppings in his noodles.
"So, Naruto, meet naruto." Nyodai said as she held the topping closer to Naruto, who just began to chuckle.
In his wholehearted laughter Naruto had forgotten what had happened earlier that day, and just became enthralled in Nyodai's jokes she would later make as the pair slowly retreated back into The Orphanage. However, neither noticed The Headmistress.
Her glare solely focused on Nyodai.