Title- Story of my Life
Chapter 4- The Difference of One Crime
AN- Hiya! How is everyone doing this -checks her clock- 7:47 pm? I'm doing quite fine, thanks for asking! Tomorrow my friend and I are gonna go to the new mall in Rancho Cucamonga (if you live anywhere in SoCal, you might have heard of the new open mall called Victoria Garden. It's supposed to be as good as Fashion Island. -boasting- See what we redneck 909-ers can do?!?), since I only live about two minutes away from it. YAY! I finally get to hang out with my friends!!! My life is not all on the computer!!!!! -deep breaths- Okay, anyway, it was nicechatting with you all!
Have you ever noticed how much "tomorrow" feels like "yesterday"? Try it. Really. It's freaking me out, 'cause I don't know if I used the right word or not. (And kids, this is why you shouldn't go a week without M'nMs- It may be good for your health, but it's bad for your sanity.)
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To each his sufferings: all are men,
Condemn'd alike to groan;
The tender for another's pain,
The unfeeling for his own.
- Ode
Stultus est qui stratum, non equum inspicit; stutissimus qui hominem aut
veste aut condicione aestimat (The man who inspects the saddle blanket instead
of the horse is stupid; most stupid is the man who judges another man by his
clothes or his circumstances)
-Seneca the Younger
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"I still can't believe that you're in a cell with Uchiha," Kiba told Naruto as he took a bite out of his bread roll. "I weaw, how ish it poshiwle-" he swallowed. "I mean, how is is possible that you of all people get in a cell with a mass murderer?"
"I don't know, they just- a what??" screeched Naruto. "He's a what?"
Haku leaned over Naruto's shoulder. "A killer, Kyuubi. Would you like my soup?"
The blonde immediately perked up at the thought of more food, and he forgot all about what Kiba had just said. "Yes!"
Shikamaru went pale. "Um...Kid, why is Haku talking to you?" 'And why did he mysteriously pop out of nowhere?' he thought with apprehension.
Naruto just rolled his eyes. "He's my friend, duh. Hey, Haku! Meet my new friends. That's Kiba, Shikamaru, Neji, and Lee."
"I'm getting the feeling that you will never cease to surprise us, Kid!" Lee chuckled in a strange, insane-like way, making Naruto back away slightly. "You stole only one cup of ramen and got arrested, ended up in Sasuke's cell, don't know what Sasuke even did to get into jail, lived on the streets, and now you're the friend of one of the most dangerous men in this prison! Amazing!"
"Hey, speaking of what Bastard did," Naruto turned to Haku. "Where was I when the news hit? Sounds like what he did was pretty big."
"We were planning on how to attack the Kamikazes to expand our territory." Haku reminded him.
"Oh yeah...that was when Kraken slipped on the banana I put on the floor and landed on his butt." laughed Naruto. "Good times..."
The other four inmates at the table just stared as Naruto had a normal conversation with one of the most deadly men in their prison, talking about everything but the weather.
He talked to Haku like he was a normal person.
And talked.
And talked.
And laughed alot.
And talked.
"Well, I have to run," Haku told him brightly. "I'll see you tomorrow, Kyuubi. Nice meeting you all," he said to the other four Konoha prisoners, smiling sweetly, before turning and walking away.
As soon as Haku was out of hearing range, Shikamaru leaned over to Naruto. "You do know that Haku is a murderer, right? He's killed countless men, out of prison and in."
Naruto frowned at the lazy young man. "Yeah. So?"
"So? Don't you care?" Neji inquired, staring icily at the new inmate.
"What is this, the third degree? Spanish Inquisition of some sort?" demanded the blonde. "Haku's a good person. There are two different kinds of murders, you know. Haku's the second type."
Shikamaru sighed. "I beginning to wonder about your sanity, Kid..."
"Please, enlighten us," Neji said sarcastically. "Your wisdom must be so much greater than ours, when we have dealt with murderers, lived with murderers, talked with murderers. They're all the same, dimwit. Of course, I'm sure that someone like you who has experience so much of life would know so much more than us."
Hey, it's me again. -smile- Just wanted to add in this part that Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Lee are acting stupid, and don't realize that Naruto had been in a gang. Ah, how the old bow to youth...Now, back to the story!
Naruto twitched slightly at Neji's last remark, but then glared at him and said in an irritated tone, "Do you want to hear the two kinds or not?"
Silence.
"Okay, here I go." The blonde leaned forward, folded his arms on the table, and took a deep breath. "The first kind of murder is killing those you know. People that you've met, talked to, interacted with. People that you know have likes and dislikes, dreams and goals, friends and family. People that you know are human beings, not just some person picked at random on a street by a sniper, or someone that you were hired to kill. The second kind, of course, is killing people that you don't know anything about. If you killed by the second way, then you havn't lied or betrayed a friend or family member.
"Those who kill in the first way- well, I see it as they must've had three reasons to do it. One, they were forced to do it, and then they're cowards for letting others die for their lives only; two, they did it on accident, and they would be plagued by guilt for just about forever unless they find some way for them to feel forgiven; and three..." His voice trailed off, and his eyes became stony and fierce. "Three, they did it on purpose. In this way, they are cold hearted bastards that don't deserve to live."
"And what if they didn't like the person they killed?" Kiba asked Naruto, clearly amused by the teenager's theories.
"The only time someone should kill is if it's a kill-or-be-killed situation." Naruto said stubbornly. He began to trace a pattern that had been carved into the table by some other prisoner- it was a spiral shape. He kept his eyes on the spiral, and twirled his fingers to the outside ring of the spiral, then back to the inside, over and over again.
"But what if it's a family member that you really hate?" a voice said behind them. Shikamaru, Kiba, and Lee looked up in shock, Neji just glanced at the newcomer, and Naruto didn't look up at all.
The blonde coninued to stare at the table and trace the carving, unaware of the person that had asked the question. "If I had family, I wouldn't want to kill them," he muttered. "No matter how bad they were to me. I wouldn't have minded. I don't understand men that kill their wives, or parents that murder their kids, or kids that murder their parents, or brothers killing their sisters or any of that! There are kids on the street that would die for affection, for just one love-filled glance, or warm hug, or a soft pat on the head in congratulations. Women that sell their bodies for money, when all they would want is a man just to hold them all night long, just hold them, and keep them safe and protect them." Just then he realized who it was that had spoken, and lifted his head and spun around, glaring daggars. "You! What do you want?"
"Dinner's over," Sasuke pointed out. (He ignored Naruto's sarcastic remark of, "Good job- you can tell what time it is.") "And I want to close the cell door before the women come down for their dinner."
"Women?" Naruto questioned, then yelped as Sasuke grabbed his arm.
"Come on, I don't have time for this," the dark haired man was muttering, glancing nervously at the clocks on random walls. "If that door isn't locked by seven o'clock..."
"Bye guys! See you tomorrow! Hey, that hurts, bastard! Lemme go!"
"Shut up, idiot."
"Idiot?! You're one to talk, you asshole!"
"Little shit."
"Bastard!"
The four stared as the fuming blonde and the agitated Sasuke continued down the hall until they were out of sight.
"I don't know who to feel more sorry for," Kiba muttered. "The Kid or Sasuke?"
Lee chuckled. "Ah, this looks like a budding friendship to me!"
"I feel sorry for both of them," Shikamaru stated. "Sorry that the Kid has to deal with the King of Ice, and that Uchiha has to put up with the Kid's extreme hyperness."
"This boy will make prison life much more interesting, don't you think?" Neji stood up, holding his tray. "Uchiha's right- the women will be here soon. Kiba, will you take the Kid's tray? He forgot it in his rapid exit."
"Next time I ain't pickin' up after the brat!" Kiba complained. Spying a piece of leftover beef, Kiba used his old sleigh-of-the-hand tricks and slipped it into his shirt. 'Akamaru will like this,' he thought.
It was only moments later that the floodgates of hell were opened.
Men from the prison say that to this day they can still hear the shrieks and yells from the harpies themselves at seven o'clock.
For Naruto had not been informed that the Four Countries Maximum Security Prison was a co-ed prison.
And it was at seven o'clock that they had their dinner in the same dining hall as the men.
Reader, if you think the male prisoners are bad, just wait until you meet the female prisoners, or (as the men affectionately called them) the Harpies of Hell.
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AN- Okay, okay, I know this one was shorter, but I'm just spewing out chapters
and I just felt like stopping here rather than keeping it and writing a bazillion
more words.
