Chapter Soundtrack: "Imaginary Folklore" by Nujabes feat. Clammbon
Chapter 3- Child of the Fire Country
A set of brilliant, blue eyes stared downcast at the ground.
It was a warm, sunny day, and a six-year-old with messy blonde hair sat quietly on a swing outside the Ninja Academy. The cool breeze swept a few stray leaves past the boy's lonely face.
If loneliness was an illness then Naruto would have been confined to a hospital for it.
His home was in Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, even if it was painful to admit. He had been shunned and ostracized for the length of his young life by his fellow Leaf villagers.
Unknown to Naruto, the reason for his unhealthy solitude was that he was the container of a monstrous demon that had attacked Konoha the night he had been born. As a result, contemptuous shinobi and mistrusting citizens kept their distance from the otherwise harmless child.
He had no concept of what he could have done to bring such cruelty unto himself.
'I've been so nice to everyone, but why do they always ignore me? What did I do?'
Naruto sat in silence, pondering the reason for his misery.
"Hey!"
The blue-eyed boy looked up, and noticed two girls his age looking at him strangely from a bench.
"Hey!" The girl with the light blonde hair called to him again, "What are you doing over here all by yourself?"
A girl with pink hair stood shyly next to her, trying to hide her head from view.
Naruto felt an enormous smile explode onto his face, 'Wow! They're actually talking to me!'
He leapt from his spot on the swing and went over to them.
The blonde girl had her hands on her hips and appeared far more confident than her friend.
"Well?" She asked again, "Why are you all alone?"
"Because no one ever wants me around." Naruto answered honestly. It was awkward, he had never fully participated in a conversation before, and talking to the girls felt refreshing.
"Why is that?" The pink haired girl stepped out from behind her friend.
"I don't know. They always treat me that way, I guess."
The blonde girl shook her head in disapproval, "Well that's just silly. You can play with us if you like to...um, what's your name?"
"Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Okay, Naruto. I'm Ino; my dad owns the Yamanaka flower shop." Ino then turned to her friend, "And this is Sakura. Don't worry if she's acting funny, she's trying to hide her big forehead."
"Ino!" She squealed, "Don't talk about it!"
"What? It's not really such a big deal."
Naruto had a better look at the girl called Sakura. She had green eyes and pale pink hair; though he did not see much of a problem with her slightly spacious forehead.
"There's nothing wrong with your forehead Sakura, it's kinda nice."
Naruto's words seemed to shock the self-conscious girl.
"You...you really think so?"
Ino nodded, "Yeah he's right. When you don't hide it, it makes you look cute."
Sakura smiled, glad her forehead was being admired rather than spotlighted for its size.
"So you'll really let me play with you?" Naruto was elated at the nice girls' offer.
"Sure, come on," Ino answered, leading them along down the path, "We can go play on the slide, I'll race you there!"
Ino ran ahead, and Sakura and Naruto laughed as they followed her.
The next morning, Naruto was as happy as the proverbial clam. Never in his life had he ever played with other children, and it was something that he was looking forward to with his new friends Ino and Sakura.
He recapped in his mind how wonderful that day had been.
'We played and played until the sun started to go down, and they even invited me to come back and play today! This is great!'
In fact, Naruto was in such a pleasant mood, he had even brought along two extra cups of miso ramen for his new buddies.
He sat on the swing anxiously.
He had checked his clock before he had left home: it was nearly ten o' clock. A goofy, excited grin was plastered on his face when he saw two small figures approaching from the other side of the academy.
"Hey Ino! Hi Sakura!" He called out to them as they neared.
The two girls paused and looked at him for a moment. The hazy, morning light blurred the expressions on their faces. Still too excited to sit and wait for them to approach, Naruto sprang up and trotted over to them.
"Hi guys! I brought something for ya'! It's my favorite–"
Naruto quieted his rambling when he noticed the odd looks on the girls' faces.
"Hey, um...are you okay?" He asked, not understanding their silence.
Ino gave him a fierce glare, her mouth pursed in a tough line.
"I went home yesterday and told my dad about you, Naruto," Ino snapped at him, "And do you know what happened?"
Naruto shook his head, worried over the answer.
"He yelled at me! It was horrible, and he says that I'm never supposed to go near you again…so…so there!"
The boy winced. Why? Why was this happening?
"I'm sorry Naruto," Sakura apologized, "But, my mommy and daddy don't want me talking to you either...I'm really sorry..."
Naruto's head was spinning from the magnitude of rejection.
Sakura and Ino...they had so much fun the day before. Why? Why were his new friends doing this to him?
He watched as the girls turn to leave and panic set in.
"Wait!" Naruto cried, "I don't understand! We're friends and... I promise I'll be nice! I won't do anything wrong! Don't go..."
Ino sniffed and turned her back on him.
"Come on Sakura, let's go."
"Please don't leave me all alone again..." Naruto sniffled helplessly.
Sakura gave him a pained look.
"I...I'm sorry..." She whispered, before taking off after Ino, leaving Naruto behind.
'They...they left me...' Both cups of ramen slipped from his hands and fell to the ground, spilling their contents on the dusty path.
A single tear slid down his whiskered cheek, and he swiped it away with the back of his hand.
Naruto turned and ran in the opposite direction from where Sakura and Ino had come from.
He ran back into town alone as he had done many times before.
'Why did they go? I...I thought that they liked me...'
Naruto stumbled down the deserted street, under the beaming light of the morning sun. His head was hung in great dismay.
The dull, resonating ache of loneliness bit at his insides again. It hurt when he realized that he could barely make friends, let alone keep them...
He sniffled quietly to himself as he trudged along his usual path, and then stopped, noticing two people ahead of him.
Naruto gave them a brief, but observant glance. They wore green jackets and fish-net shirts, and had forehead protectors with the Hidden Leaf symbol on them. They were ninja...chunin, he had heard was their rank, and they looked much older and more experienced than the gennin he had seen outside of the academy.
They smirked at the small boy.
"Looks like the beast still walks these streets freely..." One of them muttered. The other stared at Naruto soundlessly, a look of utter repugnance in his eyes.
The blonde haired boy looked at the two shinobi again for a moment, and then continued, too broken-hearted to listen to any derogatory comments they may have saved for him.
Angered by his innocent gesture, the silent shinobi shot forward and grabbed hold of Naruto's arm, and squeezed threateningly.
"Ow! Hey! Let go of me!" The boy yowled, not expecting an attack from a member of his own village.
"Did you let go, demon?" The enraged ninja hissed, "Did you let my sister live? She's dead now...and you...you're still alive..."
Naruto had no idea of what the infuriated ninja was speaking about. The troubled chunin grunted in surprise when his companion halted him with an outstretched arm.
The other shinobi did not want to linger, "Enough Takeshi, you know the law. Besides we have a mission..."
"No." His partner hissed again, hoping to get some kind of retribution: that hurting the boy may hurt the Kyuubi.
Naruto felt tears sting his eyes. Why did people hate him so much?
He held his ground, knowing he could not outrun them, and prepared himself for a flogging that never came.
"Stop it."
The voice was young, like his, but obviously aware that what was happening was wrong.
Takeshi and his partner observed the young boy indifferently.
"Oh…it's just that little Uchiha kid, you know, Itachi's brother."
The distraction snapped Naruto's accoster out of his rage.
"Don't you have a mission, you said? You should go. He didn't do anything to you." The boy with the onyx eyes spoke again.
Naruto only stared at him.
The two chunin begrudgingly admitted that the child had a point. Without a word of apology, they left, promptly forgetting about Naruto. The young Uchiha approached him.
"Are you okay?"
Naruto nodded with an impressive poker-face, knowing that deep down his heart was still in tatters.
"I'm Uchiha Sasuke."
"Uzumaki Naruto..."
The sound of pain in the blonde's voice unnerved Sasuke. What had they done to the boy who called himself Naruto? He had seen him around the village from time to time, but Sasuke hardly knew a thing about him
"I recognized those two," Sasuke added, "They aren't friendly. You should stay away from them."
Naruto could not bring himself to answer. He was so rattled with pain from what Ino and Sakura, and then the chunin had done. Trying to make friends with Sasuke seemed ridiculous.
Naruto looked at Sasuke who wore an expectant expression.
"...thanks..." He said quietly.
Too embarrassed to let the other boy see him upset, Naruto fled, returning to his apartment where he could be alone cry.
It was noon. Naruto had not wasted much of the day before he had gotten a grip. He had taken a number of his few but valuable possessions (which included lots of instant ramen) and packed them in a bag. He had gotten the idea to sneak away. 'Most of the time when people don't say mean things to me, they ignore me. If I am so good at not get noticed, I can probably get out of here and find a better place.'
This was it...he decided. He could take a hint. Maybe there was another place he could be treated humanely. Maybe he would build a thicker skin out there in the world. Maybe he would find a way to get people to respect him.
'If I can find a place where they won't recognize me…then…someone may like me!'
His hopes were not very high, of course, but he was willing to take a chance. Additionally he was unsure of where he could go after escaping Konoha. His plan was to take the road to a new town and cross his fingers.
Naruto left his apartment and slinked through the lower district, effectively packed up for a journey, and wore a determined expression on his face. He stuck to the dark alleyways; devoid of the bustling foot traffic out on the main road. It was not worth it to endure the pain any longer if there was a chance he may discover acceptance elsewhere.
At that thought of finding a new home, he recalled Sasuke. He had been nice and helped him without being asked. But Naruto kept in mind that Ino and Sakura had been nice earlier...and they had turned on him.
He shook the idea from his head. What was left in Konoha that he could possibly stay for?
'No...this time I can do it. People won't hate me anymore.'
It was a relief when he passed through the wooded area near the village gates. There were few people here and he did not have to put much effort into sneaking. It was quiet and peaceful, and it helped give him the strength to press on and seek happiness.
Yellow-blossomed bushes lined the gate. The flowers smelled nice and he slowed down a bit to admire them.
A small voice nearly made him jump out of his skin.
"Naruto?"
The blonde boy turned around and faced the voice's owner. It was a girl.
She had black hair and silvery-white eyes. He recognized her in a moment.
"Oh...Hinata. Um...hi."
Naruto had first met the shy girl near the Ninja Academy. While he sat gloomily on his swing, he noticed a girl sitting at the base of the tree in total silence. He had realized she was quiet and shy, but had grown accustomed to her presence as she would often sit with him near his swing almost every day.
Hinata observed him quietly.
"Naruto, are y-you alright? You s-seem upset." Her stuttering was still understandable, even with her soft voice.
He looked at her sadly, "No Hinata. I...I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"...yeah. Don't worry about me, I'm okay."
Hinata noticed the backpack he had with him, and she quickly put two and two together.
"Are...are you g-going somewhere?"
"Yeah."
"By yourself?"
"Yeah..."
She looked distressed, "W-where are you going?"
"I...I don't really know."
They were both quiet for a moment.
"I see..." Hinata spoke quietly.
Naruto still felt the dull ache in his chest. The loneliness had become a cage that he so badly wanted to escape.
"Well, I j-just hope you'll come back s-soon then..." She informed him.
The blonde boy was confused, "Why would ya' say that Hinata?"
A blush crept up over her cheeks.
"Um...w-well, you s-see...I..." She found it very difficult to articulate, "I know that I'll miss y-you every day by our t-tree...until you come back..."
The hope that had been dwindling like a flickering ember inside of Naruto quickly flared up.
'Hinata will miss me? She wants me to come back...so then...maybe I will!'
Naruto grinned at her reassuringly, "Sure thing Hinata! I'll be back soon, and then we can sit under our tree all the time!"
Hinata smiled in response, "R-really? That w-would be wonderful."
He was suddenly invigorated and ready to explore, and he rushed out of Konoha's gates, calling over his shoulder, "I'll see you soon, Hinata-chan! I promise!"
It was something that she nearly died with joy hearing. Not only had he given her the honorary suffix, but he had promised to see her soon.
And Uzumaki Naruto never breaks a promise.
Chapter 4- Meetings at the Dark River