4
All I wanted... Was to feed her some raisins...
"Emiko," Naruto whispered as he wiggled in through a hole in the side of the trunk. Instantly perking up at the noise, a tiny baby squirrel scurried across its little home as it started licking Naruto's nose and cheek.
A giggle escaped the blond as he nudged it a little bit. "Let me get in first!" he said with no real force behind his voice. Almost as if understanding him, the little squirrel scurried away a little bit as it ran in circles excitedly.
Naruto made his way into the tree trunk and sat down with a sigh as he leaned against the inside of the tree. Once again, Emiko, the little squirrel, quickly ran up to Naruto as it stood on its hind legs and begged for food.
Naruto giggled at the ticklish feeling of Emiko's feet. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some raisins. Almost as fast as lightning, the little squirrel scurried across Naruto's lap and pulled a few raisins out of his hand. "Glutton," he said with an exasperated smile.
And just like that, the little blond boy and the little baby squirrel spent their day enjoying each others' company.
Today is a good day, Naruto mused as he smiled, not minding the pain from his ribs, back, or his bruised face. The bullies had roughed him up real good today, but they still hadn't taken his nuts and raisins away so he didn't care.
He had laid down inside the trunk of the tree as the shade helped him keep cool while Emiko curled up on top of him and slept peacefully.
It truly was a good day... Until a few voices made their way to Naruto's ears.
He opened an eye and peered through the opening of the trunk while straining her ears so that he could hear more.
"I'm telling you! I saw him right around here!" a boy's voice said.
Instantly, Naruto's heart dropped as a sinking feeling filled his stomach. Dammit, they had followed him! How could he have been so stupid to not even check his surroundings before coming here!? Shit, this is all my fault!
"Chi, chi," the little squirrel squeaked with concern as it sensed a change in its friend's demeanor.
Fear gripped Naruto as he whipped his head towards Emiko and put a finger on his lips. "No sound!" he whispered hastily. Alas, Emiko was only a squirrel. A baby one at that. It did not understand human gestures.
"Chi," it chirped once more.
"Hey! I heard something from here!" the voice of another boy reached Naruto's hiding place. This time, much closer than earlier.
"Oh no!" Naruto whispered. His eyes widened as an abyss formed in his stomach. This was it! They'd take away the one thing precious to him. And he wouldn't be able to stop it. Why? Because of his own powerlessness.
Did he deserve this?
Oh wait, of course, he did. He'd known that ever since he'd been able to think… But why!? Why did he deserve this, dammit!? Would the gods at least give him just one reason!? What did he do?
As he'd feared, the crunching of grass and leaves under the shoes of one of the boys grew louder as he approached the tree… And then stopped. Then, as if trying to purposefully scare the blond, a boy with buzzcut brown hair peeked into the hole in the tree with what Naruto would call, the evilest grin he'd ever seen.
Not even the Kumo jounin that he had fought looked at him like this.
"Found you, you little shit!" the boy yelled as he knelt down by the tree. "He's here!" he called out to his friends and Naruto heard their footsteps grow nearer with bated breath.
Worse yet, Emiko ran out from behind the blond, directly into their line of sight.
"Emiko, NO!" Naruto yelled as he lunged forwards. However, he was just slightly too late. The boy was faster and quickly grabbed the little baby squirrel before it had any time to react.
"Ah, so this little thing is what you were trying to protect?" One of the other boys said.
"Let her go!" Naruto screamed as he scrambled out of the hole, only to be met with a solid kick in the face. "Augh!" he groaned, holding his bleeding mouth.
"Nice one!" he heard one of them say.
Staying true to his goal of saving his friend, however, Naruto didn't stay down. "Let her go!" he said again, crawling out fully this time. Before Naruto could get to his feet though, he was once again met with another kick straight to the ribs.
"Aww, is the poor demon trying to protect his friend?" the boy with the buzzcut who was now holding the squirrel upside down by its tail mocked. "It makes sense that a dirty animal like you would be friends with another dirty animal," he said and the three boys let out a hearty laugh at the 'joke'.
"She's not dirty, she's my friend!" Naruto said, rubbing the sore spot on his side and once again trying to get up.
The other two boys didn't allow it, however, as they once again bombarded the blond with multiple kicks and punches while the third one vigorously shook the little animal up and down. "Of course it's dirty! It's filthy. Anyone who is friends with a filthy demon is also filthy!"
The one-sided beating continued for a while before one of them finally gained a heinous gleam in his eyes. "Hey, stop, stop!" he said with enthusiasm that didn't really fill Naruto with any hope.
"What is it?"
The area became quiet for a second, only filled with Naruto's painful sobs and sniffles.
"Give me the animal," he said, and the blond dreaded what was coming. He turned his head up to see a nearly limp Emiko being passed from one boy to another. "Hey demon, do you want to save your filthy little friend here?" he asked derisively as he knelt down beside Naruto.
Naruto's pupils trembled with horror as he wondered what the correct answer here would be. "Y-Yeah," he stammered out.
The boy held up Emiko by her tail in front of Naruto's face. "Then bite its tail off," he said.
"Wha—" Fresh tears trailed down Naruto's cheeks as his brain struggled to comprehend the sentence.
"Whoa, Taishi, isn't that a bit…" another boy said, but instantly shut his mouth as he saw the look Taichi gave him.
"C'mon, little demon. It won't die without its tail, will it?" Taishi said as he looked back at Naruto.
"I-I can't," Naruto whispered as his body shook with fright.
Taishi guffawed loudly as he raised his fist and socked Naruto in his eye. "See!?" he yelled while laughing like a psychopath. "This is why you're a filthy little demon! You don't even want to save your friend!"
Ah… Maybe… Maybe this was the reason he'd been looking for?
