-Guilty By Association-
"Ramen! Ramen! Naruto wants ramen!"
He smiles. "Yes, yes, I know, Naruto! Now calm down; you're making a scene!" And indeed he is.
Storekeepers shoot dirty looks at the younger of the two; people walking on the sidewalk humph, stick up their noses, and speed away.
The little blonde boy, however, seems oblivious. "But I want ramen, Iruka-sensei! Miso ramen!" Iruka smiles benignantly and steers Naruto towards his favorite ramen stand, Ichiraku.
Naruto flies over to the counter and throws himself upon a seat. He giggles madly as the chair takes him for a spin. Iruka smiles yet again. 'You can't not smile around him!' he thinks.
Iruka sits down at the counter as well. "One bowl of miso, and one chicken, please!" He says.
The old man behind the counter smiles, his eyes crinkling merrily. "Back again, eh, Iruka?" Iruka smiles somewhat ashamedly. "It's the seventh time today!" Iruka grimaces. He imagines his money flying away to an evilly cackling bowl of ramen, which is promptly eaten by Naruto.
The ramen comes out, steaming hot and smelling delicious. Iruka blows on his in an effort to cool it down, but Naruto digs in, oblivious to his dying taste buds.
They finish their ramen. Iruka has just struck up a friendly conversation with the old stand keeper when Naruto, in a sleepy stupor, falls off his chair and bangs his head on the floor. He causes a racket, and Iruka hastily ends his conversation. "Looks like it's someone's bed time!" the old man notes.
Iruka heaves the young boy onto his shoulders. The boy falls asleep on his guardian, drooling in his hair.
(Next day, at the Academy)
"Naruto, you klutz!"
"Naruto."
"You ruined my skirt, you ninny!"
"Naruto!"
"I'm gonna make you buy me a new one!"
"NARUTO!" The boy in question freezes and slowly turns around. "Uh, hi?"
Iruka tries to hold his temper, but to no avail. "UZUMAKI NARUTO! Why did you bleach Sakura's dress?!" Naruto has remained passive throughout the explosion, but at the mention of the girl's name, his eyes brighten. "She is my one and only love! I shall never love another! She is the prettiest, most beautifullest-" He is cut off by Iruka. "If you like her so much, THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO IT?!"
Naruto opens his mouth to reply, but nothing comes out. Iruka smirks inside. He has won the arugument! "Get back in your seats, please!" Sakura flounces back to her seat, which is next to Uchiha Sasuke, and goes back to making googly eyes at him. Naruto does likewise, except he slouches to his seat next to Nara Shikamaru, his upper lip jutting out dangerously far.
"Today, class, we learn about chakra. Does anyone know what chakra is?" Iruka says. Immediately, a chorus of "Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! Pick me!" assails his ears. He winces at the decibel level. "Um, okay, how about you, Sakura?" He has to yell above the noise.
Sakura looks anxiously at the boy beside her and proceeds to explain chakra. When all has been said, Sakura glances at the stoic boy next to her, blushing furiously. Uchiha remains silent and doesn't spare her a glance. She sighs despondently as Iruka begins to drone on about the finer points of chakra.
(Recess)
"Um…N-naruto-kun?" The boy turns on his swing to look at the timid, black-haried girl beside him. He smiles brightly and screams, "Hi, Hinata-chan!" A flock of startled birds take flight from a nearby clump of trees. Hinata squeaks and glances around, obviously embarrassed that he was so loud. "Um…do…do you, maybe…um…wanna…play with…uh…with me?" The blonde boy abruptly stops smiling, a stupefied look in place. "You…you wanna play with me?" The girl blushes and stammers, "H-hai!" Naruto lets out a whoop of joy and swings Hinata around and around. Hinata laughs nervously.
They begin to play with the ball Hinata had brough. It is a simple game: just kicking the ball to and fro. Hinata is just getting into the game when a heavy hand claps onto his shoulder. Naruto looks up to see the seemingly blank eyes of Hinata's father. The eyebrows are angled sharply downward in a very disapproving glare. "Do not play with my daughter, fox."
Naruto blinks, uncomprehending. "Uh…excuse me?" Hinata's father grabs Hinata's hand and begins to drag her away. Then, as an afterthought, he pauses and turns. "You touch my daughter again, and I'll kill you, demon."
When Hinata has left, Naruto collapses on the ground. 'Why was he so mean?' He thinks. He goes to sit on his swing again, his good mood evaporated.
Iruka finds him still sitting there, three hours later.
"Naruto?" He calls. "Where have you been?" The boy sniffles and looks up. Tears have been coursing down his face for the past few hours. "Why am I different? Why does no one want to play with me, Iruka-sensei?"
Because they'd be guilty by association.
"I don't know, Naruto. I don't know."