Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

A PUNK'S LIFE

BY: ADOREDRA FAL'NAELRA

CHAPTER TWO: A DAY IN THE LIFE

A BETTER TOMORROW

"Okay," Mizuki-sensei said to begin his tedious lectures. "What little I understand about the Sealing Arts is that requires very precise penmanship with a very precise type of ink. Because of this, I decided that you would write some of your answers down today while practicing your penmanship. Also, writing down answers works a mnemonic device that will help you remember the answer!"

First off, sensei was way too proud of this lesson plan. Second, Naruto only heard about half of it because he was really focusing on keeping from farting. Those eggs did look a little too greasy, and the bacon wasn't as crispy as he normally liked it.

"Now let's start with some basic history. Describe the importance of peasant revolts while citing one specific example," Mizuki continued giving his charge a concerned look. "Are you feeling alright, Naruto-kun? You keep squirming in your desk like a -"

A loud noise ripped through the empty classroom and echoed off of the wooden walls. Naruto slumped down his desk with a grand sigh. Boy was that loud, and he felt like ten pounds lighter. It might have been a record-breaker.

"Dear Gods, Naruto. Control yourself and just go to the bathroom next time," Mizuki chastised.

"People actually go do that? Is that why I've never heard a girl-," Naruto stood upright out of his desk laughing while pinching his nose and waving his hand in front of his face. "That was a smeller."

Catching a whiff, Mizuki quickly backed away, "We're going to do a different room, and make sure to get it all out of your system, too. There are only so many classrooms for you to foul up."

Letting loose and howling in laughter, Naruto followed his summer instructor across the hall. Reaching up to rest his arms behind his head, Naruto felt the normal locks of blonde in one hand and the shaved feeling of his skull. The haircut was cool and all, but it just required so much maintenance. The actual part of the haircut that involved hair had a tendency to hang wherever the wind blew.

The hair was supposed to comb over to the side without covering the bald spot just like in the cool photo he saw in the magazine in one of those fancy barber shops that always talked about the latest trends from the Fire Capital. Furthermore, the braid on the border between hair and scalp required continuous maintenance, and he always forgot about the hair-string-thing he needed at the end for the little rat tail. The worst part of the whole thing was the itching. His scalp itched nonstop. It was literally driving him up the walls, and the anti-itch cream he bought at the pharmacy only went so far.

In summation, Naruto regretted his impulse decision for a haircut. It cost money, it took up his time and it was a giant hassle. At the time, Naruto was feeling rather lonely. When he felt lonely, he wanted attention, and the haircut screamed look at me. All of his friends which were really nothing more than elementary school classmates were all doing something during the summer. No one really went to the park. In fact, his classmates went to the park less and less each passing year.

Everyone seemed to have their stupid families to spend time with, and it pissed Naruto off. He didn't need someone to hold his hand, go on vacations or trips, so no one should either as far as Naruto was concerned. Naruto had to shake his head out of that train of thought that he frequented too much. It always lead to his first memories. He promised himself that he would move on from the past and let it shackle him from reaching a better life for himself.

Settling down in the other room, Mizuki gave him a weird look probably around his sudden mood swing. Sensei could just mind his own business. His sensei repeated the history question. Oh well, at least it would keep his mind off of his past and worry about the past of nations.

It was always nice to know that while he made major screw-ups in his life they would never be as bad as some of the idiots that were supposedly the smartest. All the talk about noble bloodlines and their superior talents and tutelage, yet these pinnacles of human achievement had a knack for ruining everything with very few exceptions actually making life better.

Mizuki continued with the history lesson adding a few special terms like vassal states, local autonomy and weird religious cults like Jashin that Naruto diligently wrote down trying to make the letters look all nice and pretty. Then there were the clan histories of both Shinobi and Samurai and the Daimyo. A run -through of the Era of Warring States, and the atrocities that occur when a single absolute ruler is not in charge.

After a few more history lessons, they moved on to doing the math questions from this workbook filled with word problems that Mizuki brought. The book was relatively dull except for the attempts to make the situation sound reasonable by using Shinobi-related terminology like how many kunais did Sai have after he multiplied, divided, added and subtracted a few. Naruto would admit that his sense of fractions and decimals were not the best, and of course the moment Mizuki smelled weakness, he attacked with a vengeance.

That was another thing about Mizuki. He nagged and nagged and nagged about every, little, detail. His handwriting, his posture, his fingernails and his grammar were all open to debate. Naruto felt like he was being smothered by an all-consuming nightmare. It just wasn't whether one was right or not. It was how, why, where and when he did it. Furthermore, he needed to explain his logic to Mizuki. The last thing Naruto wanted was for people especially the Devil-sensei-that-wasn't-the-devil in his head.

All-in-all it wasn't too bad. Naruto always felt like people made all sorts of logical leaps in their reasoning. The worst was when Naruto was still naive and dared to ask the teachers questions, and everyone would laugh at him like an idiot. So what if he didn't immediately 'get it'. Wasn't it the teacher's job to, he didn't know, teach?

The current situation was rather novel to Naruto. Most of the things in Naruto's life only involved cons, but here he was in a situation that had both pros and cons. Naruto had every plan to take every little advantage of this situation like any other situation Naruto found himself. If given an ounce, then take a pound, right?

With Naruto it was always about potential, and it was one's Gods-given right to make every ounce of the potential into reality and then more. Life was meant to be lived to its fullest at all moments. Everyone claimed that it was beast to live in some sort of steady state of contentment. Naruto, on the other hand, wanted his highs to be high and his lows to be low. This philosophy was one of the reasons he didn't turn into a depressive sourpuss.

If life were meant to be lived in a steady line with a slight upward slope, then Naruto's life would never amount to anything of import considering how low it started. Furthermore, Naruto had no delusions of his lifespan and had tremendous respect that he would probably be able to live as long as he would. No one held back on a Shinobi's lifespan especially without any particular talent. Of course, every time someone mentioned a Shinobi's lifespan or lifestyle some old folk would always mention how things were back in their own time. The worst was when the same people would then start talking about their older generation's generation's generation.

Dear Gods, Naruto couldn't care less about someones long-dead superiors. He had enough shit to deal with himself; he couldn't possibly deal with non-existent people's problems. He couldn't even deal with other people's problems that were currently living in the same time period as himself. Naruto remember hearing from somewhere else about how the first step is helping one's own self before moving on to others, and Naruto was completely content to follow that rule to the dot.

Thus, Naruto had every intention of getting the largest high he could out of his short life before it was promptly snuffed out. The dream, obviously, was to die in a grand battle against hundreds of enemies. The way Naruto envisioned it was that he was holding the enemies back in a selfless sacrifice to be remembered as the greatest hero of the war as the individual who gave Konoha the time to win. That was a life and a death that Naruto would be content with.

As a result, he didn't really look into the long-term plans. He handled life one step at a time and one day at a time. With Mizuki temporarily turning into the devil two weeks ago, Naruto found himself doing more than just the unthinkable by actually minding like a good little kid but changing how he thought about his own future. It wasn't that the future looked brighter or less bright, but the future looked more real.

Naruto realized he wasn't going to be a hero; he wasn't going to be anything. He would just be another nameless Shinobi who died in the name of Konoha. If there was one thing that Naruto hated, then it was being a nobody. The last thing he ever wanted for himself was to be just another nameless face in the crowd. Another sheep in the herd that lived their whole lives meekly following the sheepherder.

It wouldn't be easy, but Naruto wasn't afraid of hard work. He just didn't want to do what he didn't want to do. Then again, life wasn't easy doing what one was supposed to be doing either. As it turned out, following the path that was most-travelled wasn't the safest path. Naruto wouldn't even be taking the path the least-travelled. He would be making his own path. The only problem is that to make a path requires one had to move the obstacles out of the way. Side-note, obstacles didn't like moving. Fortunately, Naruto considered himself an unstoppable force capable of bulldozing all of the obstacles in the way.

The real problem was that these obstacles currently didn't have faces. They didn't have names with their own past, present and future. Naruto wasn't naive enough to know that their would be conflicts. While Naruto didn't revel in getting into rows with everyone like everyone liked to believe, he also wasn't afraid of confrontation. He could stand his own ground and stare the enemy in the eye. Maybe that was all it took to be considered a rabble-rouser or a troublemaker or whatever they decided to call him these days.

What surprised Naruto the most was that people didn't think he was self-aware of his actions. A frequent excuse others made for him was that he wasn't aware of his actions. He was. He just didn't care about the consequences or the disciplines because life was short and he wanted some good memories for when he croaked. A life was meant to be lived, and it seemed that the older an individual got, the less they wanted to live.

In Naruto's opinion it should be the exact opposite, but if Mizuki asking him so many questions about how he thought that taught Naruto anything, then it was that he didn't think like a 'normal' person. Apparently, he was a circle surrounded by squares, and society was the square hole that everyone needed to fit inside to pass the test.

Speaking of squares and circles, Naruto's grasp on geometry also wasn't his forte as Mizuki was discovering. The real question was when did they take away the formula chart that told him how to do the circumference, perimeter, area and volume of all of these shapes? Even Naruto got those questions right on the math exams. Mizuki made some smart-ass comment about he wouldn't have a formula sheet on the job along someone to hold his hand. For someone who prided himself on his independent lifestyle, Naruto sure did need a lot of help. According to Jiji, it took a village to raise him and Naruto was starting to agree with the sentiment.

"I think we are done with your studies for the moment," Mizuki offered as he started packing away the supplies. "For homework, you will need to rewrite all of your notes, write down any questions you have about what we covered and prepare for a quiz over the subjects."

Naruto had an objection on the tip of his tongue. Unfortunately, Mizuki was giving him that damn daring look on his face just asking for Naruto to misbehave. Mizuki just didn't understand. Naruto had plans for the night like watching that movie. Instead he would be rewriting notes; the whole thing was absolutely preposterous. Life just wasn't fair sometimes.

"Now scamper and go eat lunch," Mizuki ordered when it became clear that Naruto was just going to sit there and brood.

That gave Naruto an idea. "Sensei," he whined, "lets go eat lunch together, ya know, student and sensei and all that stuff. We could bond! I know the perfect place!"

"We bonded plenty in the room over, plus I have plans," Mizuki said, "Believe it or not, but I actually have a life outside of teaching you."

"I know that!" Naruto refuted, "but this is about getting to know each other better and stuff."

Mizuki barked a laugh, "Fool me once shame on you; fool me twice shame on me twice. I'm not going to let you claim that you thought I was going to pay because I'm the sensei which also explained why you didn't have any money on your body. Also, what happened to you being broke all the time?"

Naruto gasped and put his hand over his heart, "I would never."

As Mizuki was about to leave the room, he turned his head over his shoulder, "Plus, you have to be eating what the Akimichi nutritionist said and take your vitamins. In case you haven't noticed, you're still a shrimp."

After Mizuki left the room, Naruto blew a raspberry at the open door to hear an 'I heard that' from a retreating Mizuki. Damn, Naruto's plan on freeloading a good meal was gone. Now he had to go back to his apartment and cook again and take some of those weird pills that were almost bigger than a baby's eyes. Did he remember to take the morning pills, too? Naruto wasn't the best with keeping up with his vitamin regimen.

A random Shinobi with a flak jacket entered one of the random rooms throughout the Elementary Shinobi School with the intention of getting all of his reports down for the Corps and for his clan head that had to know everything about everything.

"What in the name of the Gods is that smell?" he questioned out loud before rushing out and trying not to throw up his dinner.

It turned out that closing the room door and not opening any of the windows let Naruto's distinct flavor ferment in the room.

Naruto sighed to himself after finishing his special meal with his special drink taking his special vitamins. While he always wanted to special and stick out of the crowd, Naruto always wanted to be normal as well. He wanted to eat his cake and have it too. The problem was that he had no cake and never had.

Life was complicated, but it felt like the only thing that changed was an increase in complication. He was no where closer to getting answers to questions he didn't even know to ask. For all intents and purposes, Naruto felt lost. He was struggling to rediscover himself. The problem was that he didn't know what he wanted. For instance, he wanted both to be normal and to be special.

Looking out of his window, Naruto gazed upon the four legendary Hokages. At the end of the day when he went to bed, what did he want from the day? What did he want of the next day and the day after that day and the next and the next? He wanted to be happy or at least content with his day. He wanted to be proud of himself for his own accomplishments.

The problem was that Naruto was discovering that his previous whole years of relative happiness during elementary school after his emancipation might not have been as happy as he originally thought. His happiness was a lie. A fraud that he committed upon himself, and the only person to blame was himself. This saddened Naruto. At the end of the day, Naruto always believed in himself when no one else did except for maybe Jiji. After all, if one didn't believe in themselves, then who would ever trust him or her?

Now all of a sudden he didn't know if he could even trust himself. Was it desperation that caused Naruto to truly believe with his whole being that he was happy? Was he happy failing every course both mentally and physically? Was he happy not having any real friends? He didn't even have a best friend to share his thoughts, dreams and aspirations without reservation. He wasn't even sure what his dreams and aspirations were in the future. How could he possibly share them?

How were other people supposed to see things, good things, in him if he couldn't even do that to himself? He wouldn't even be his own friend. This train of thought was becoming too depressing and real, so Naruto naturally decided to tune it out. Ignoring the pain was one of his greatest talents, but maybe ignoring the pain wasn't the solution. Maybe it was time to confront the issues that plagued Naruto head-on without holding back. To look at the darkness in his soul and not just look the other way.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto tried to find resolve in himself. The problem was that he didn't have a solution to this problem. He couldn't ask for help because all of the respectable adult figures in his life would tell him to focus on his studies. His studies were not the solution, but they helped. They helped in the same way as ignoring the problem was.

Everyone else seemed to have someone to please. One's parents, one's clan, one's peers, one's love-interests. Naruto didn't. Bringing others happiness, did not bring happiness back to him in some sort of cosmic circle. Being nice, being proper, it never worked in Naruto's favor. He never liked the results. He did someone a favor, and the favor was never returned. Where were they in his time of need?

Naruto discovered at an early age is that when everyone's eyes were away, the so-called proper children showed their true nature. No one shared. Everyone took what they wanted even what they wanted for the simple reason of not wanting others to have it. Everyone was a savage beast that lived in a state of nature where everyone was at everyone's throats. The only thing that kept this nature back and controlled was societal pressure that existed in many forms and more names than the Gods themselves.

Everyone was so judgmental about everything. Maybe it was because they had to be in order to keep everything in check. Naruto didn't trust people. He always felt like something inside of him made him prematurely disposed to this lack of trust. He would love to trust people. He would love to take that leap of faith knowing that someone had his back, but he wasn't that naive.

This is what made his lack of trust in himself so disturbing because he had nothing to fall back onto. Jiji wasn't there to have him at all times. A simple fact that was made painfully obvious when he would cry in a corner to sleep calling for his Jiji only for no one to show up. No Jiji. No ANBU. No one. He would just have to wipe his salt trails from his cheeks and keep on with the day.

Naruto gave a long and exhaustive sigh. All of this thinking and philosophical bullshit, and nothing changed. The sun was still moving past its peak, the birds were still chirping, people still hustled in the streets and the Hokage Monument stared over him. Looking at the Hokage Monument, he pondered what it took to get such an immense amount of respect, honor and prestige such as a Hokage.

It clearly took strength of mind, body and soul. It took self-sacrifice according to the Fourth face. It took a dream in the First and the Third face. What did the Second face take? What was the saying? The First brought the people, and the Second built the city. Konoha wasn't built in a day.

Maybe Naruto was looking to far into it. Maybe it just took power, but all the Hokage were powerful. They were the most powerful Shinobi of their time in fact. Then again, power was something that everyone respected. Allies, enemies, bystanders, it didn't matter. They all respected power. No one stole from the big children. The children that defended their stuff through powerful connections or the strength of their own two arms.

Naruto didn't have a clan or a family at his back, and he couldn't change that fact. What he could change was how powerful he was, and according to Jiji the only way to get powerful was to excel in his studies. Naruto was willing to take the chance, to take the risk to finally trust Jiji with everything from his body to his mind to his soul.

He would hate it. He would feel vulnerable putting trust in someone like that even as renowned as Jiji. He would just have to overcome his own fears and doubts in others and himself and become a person who could fall asleep at night proud of one's accomplishments and the potential of tomorrow.

So Naruto decided not to turn on the television or the radio. He did not leave his room to go hunt down some outlet of temporary satisfaction. He picked up his backpack, fetched his supplies and notes and starting putting pen to paper and making his life better one letter at a time.