Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Bathing in Blood
7. Hearsay
He journeyed, forever joyless,
Straight to the door...
And his heart laughed, he relished the sight,
Intending to tear the life from those bodies.
-Beowulf
What's wrong with wanting what you don't have?
The inventor of the telephone wanted a talking wire.
The inventor of the television wanted a picture radio.
The inventor of the computer wanted a thinking typewriter
...Right?
The blonde-haired girl shifted her shoulders, relaxing as the television cast grainy images of a black-and-white love into the darkened living room. What if she were that beautiful bone-thin brunette? And what if the dark knight falling conveniently into her arms was her Sasuke-kun?
What if?
I'm sure that girl doesn't obsess over whether every petal is perfect in the roses he gives her. I'm sure that boy didn't see his parents massacred with his own eyes. I'm sure he didn't have half a village chasing after him.
Then the thought occurred to her. Could they be normal?
What was normal? Was it living in a happy, four-member family, forever cheerful and forgiving? Where were these ideal families hiding, that she'd never seen them before? Or, maybe there was no such thing as 'normal'. Maybe it was just an illusion, like an undetectable genjutsu, pushing the world for unattainable perfection.
But was it so bad, to dream of something you know you'll never have?
No. Wait. She did not say that. She would get her Sasuke-kun, she had to. She'd sacrificed everything in her life that mattered. If anybody deserved the raven-haired genius, it was Yamanaka Ino.
All too soon, the movie was over, defeated soundly by a commercial for spring water. Even water was more important than true love.
But that wasn't her opinion. She knew her opinion like the back of her hand. True love will conquer all. True love will conquer ALL, dammit!
Even friendship.
Even life itself.
And, was that a bad thing?
Ino's eyes strayed to her watch. The Chuunin Exams started in less than half an hour. Reluctantly she rose from the couch, sidling over to the hall mirror to check her makeup. Satisfied, yet knowing that she would curse herself later for her leniency in skincare, she grabbed a cosmetics-filled purse and walked to the door.
Dignified. A true lady.
As she tripped delicately along the short gravel path through her lawn, she felt something brush her leg. Daisies. Squeezing her eyes shut, she broke into a clumsy, desperate run. She knew what her opinion was. Knew it like the back of her hand!
And in spite of her efforts, the little voice stirred groggily in its hidden corner, and whispered sinisterly-soft that, for all she knew, the back of her hand was uncharted territory.
Naruto glanced around worriedly. The grounds outside of the Academy were overflowing, filled to bursting with a teeming, seething mass of people. The noise stormed past him like an unstoppable typhoon of voices.
This was a huge crowd. A vast one. A loud one. And he liked big things. He liked loud things. He liked crowds, moreover. Why, then, did he feel so nervous? So tense, like the air was an atom-bomb set to explode at the slightest mistake?
Shuddering vaguely, he tried to shake off his fears. It was probably because there were so many other ninjas around him, possible opponents and possible killers. There were the crazy ones, and there were the crazier ones.
He had to watch out for both.
A trio of chattering, eager genin brushed past, sending Naruto spinning. He searched the swarm for his teammates. Sakura-chan, at least, seemed to know where she was going. And Sasuke...who knew? Who cared?
Now was not the time to chicken out. Taking a deep breath, and gagging on the dusty, humid air, the blonde-haired boy raced towards the pink-haired leader, towards the doors that would make all the difference.
