Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto… never will.
Chapter 1: Nobody's Someone
Uzumaki Naruto, a young boy, about thirteen years old, awoke one morning when the fluorescent rays of the morning sun outside the open widow illuminated his entire bedroom. He sat up in his bed and yawned, covering his mouth with his hand. He opened his eyes and ever-so-slightly squinted, allowing his eyes to grow accustomed to the light. He lifted his arms up into the air and stretched as he did every morning. Slowly removing the sheets from his body, he slid his feet towards the side of his bed and stood up.
Taking one single step forward, he wobbled a bit and finally regained his balance. Walking towards the door, he put his hand out and reached for the knob. When it finally touched his hand, he turned it and walked through the currently open door. Through the door, Naruto was immediately in the living room which was directly next to the kitchen and the small dining area, in his tiny one-person apartment.
He looked to the left and saw the kitchen. A weak smile grew upon Naruto's face when he saw the only cupboard. He ran to it and opened it excitedly. Upon opening it, his eyes grew wider and they suddenly curved as an enormous grin came upon his shining face.
"Ohayo, my fellow ramen!" he shouted as he extended an arm up to grab a container of Cup Ramen out of the cupboard. He opened the paper top halfway and boiled some water on the stove. After about five minutes of waiting for the water to completely boil, he removed it from the stove-top and poured some into the container. Placing the hot water back onto the stove, he averted his eyes to the clock that hung on the wall next to the cupboard. Come on, clock! Tick faster! He thought impatiently. Naruto looked down at the cup of ramen. Then back at the clock. Suddenly, he found himself frantically looking back and forth waiting for the three minutes to go by.
Aww damn it! Why is it that time always decides to take it's time when I'm anticipating something? He thought again. He looked back up at the clock. Thirty more seconds… his gaze seemed to have frozen upon staring at the second hand ticking… ticking so… slowly. Fifteen… he thought. Then he counted down out loud, "Nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three… two… on-" he cut himself off when he noticed that the second hand had completely stopped ticking all together! "WHAT? How could this happen?" He narrowed his eyelids and glared at the clock. "I knew you weren't ticking at the normal speed! Baka!" He yelled at the clock. "Well, I couldn't expect anything more from something I bought at a used dollar store. Then he remembered his ramen. That means that my ramen is long-since ready to be eaten! He thought in his head.
Forgetting about the broken clock, he picked up a pair of chopsticks and a carton of milk and sat down at the table. Naruto tore the paper lid completely off and set it down on the table next to the carton of milk. He reached his chopsticks into the cup and scooped up a pile of noodles that he slurped up into his mouth. Afterwards he took a sip from the milk carton. He put the milk carton back onto the table and smiled greatly while he said aloud to no one, "Nothing beats waking up to zero clouds in the sky and a cup full of ramen!"
Naruto quickly slurped up the rest of his breakfast and walked into the living room. He sat on the couch and looked up with his hands resting underneath his head. In looking up, he came across a note he had forcefully carved into the ceiling with a kunai about six months before. The inscription read, "It isn't my fault everyone sees me as something I am not. But why do they all hate me for it?" He frowned at the sight of it, his happy, playful mood completely changing into a serious and… even sad expression.
He rolled over onto his side and put his hands underneath his ear. Then he thought to himself. It's true, though. I don't understand why everyone hates me because of something I'm not… it isn't fair. I'm sure even Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi all hate me too… but they just don't show it. Why is it always me? He sighed and held in tears that begged for him to let them escape. I won't cry. I can't cry. Crying means that I am weak. Is that the reason? Why everyone despises me so? Because I'm… weak? Am I a coward… a failure? That's it… everyone sees me as someone incapable of succeeding. Even if it is, I won't let that be the reason! He decided that being weak was not an option for him. If people wanted a stronger Naruto, then well… they would get one. If that was what it would take to get the people of Konohagakure to like him, then that is what he would do. His attitude may not change, but he would definitely try much harder than before. He sat up and slid his feet to the edge of the couch so that they touched the floor. He crossed his arms and leaned over.
Sighing, he then stood up and looked at the clock that wasn't already broken. It read: Seven o' clock AM. He realized it was way past time for him to get to the bridge where he was to meet his team so he slowly walked to his bedroom and changed into his usual orange jumpsuit and tied his Konoha forehead protector to his head. He put his shoes on and walked out the door, certainly not in the least excited about going to see, let alone talk to anyone.
As he walked out the front door, he took his first breath of morning air. He sighed, remembering to display his daily fake façade to fool everyone into believing he was happy all of the time. If he showed that he was lonely all the time… then people would laugh at him even more, so he pretended that everyone's hate didn't affect him, yet for some reason, they still seemed to laugh. He let out a deep breath and stuffed his hands in his pockets, walking down the streets that led him to the bridge.
Finally, a small bridge came into view and he vaguely spotted two figures standing above it. One of them was another boy, the same age as Naruto and had ebony black hair, and deep eyes, same color as his hair. He wore a shirt the color of water, about one thousand feet below the water's surface, and beige-colored shorts. His name was Sasuke… Uchiha Sasuke. He was considered Naruto's rival, but inside they both had always considered each other friends, though they may not have showed it.
The other was a girl, also thirteen, who had pink hair, which strongly resembled cherry blossoms. She wore a red dress, decorated with little white designs here and there that went just below her knees. Her name was Haruno Sakura. Naruto used to have the biggest crush on Sakura until he realized how much she, along with everyone else hated him. Realizing she would never give into him, he completely gave up on all hope of winning her heart. When he was finally within earshot, Sasuke and Sakura both heard him coming so they turned around to acknowledge him. Naruto implanted a tremendous smile on his face and he waved his hand, high in the air. He then ran up to them both and greeted them excitedly, "Ohayo, Sasuke-kun!" He looked over at Sakura. "Sakura-chan." He said, nodding his head as a way of saying hello.
Sasuke nodded back to him and Sakura smiled. "What's wrong, Naruto? You're almost as late as Kakashi-sensei." Sasuke asked him, a smirk appearing on his face.
"I woke up late! So what?" he shouted back. He clenched his fist and slightly narrowed his eyes. Sasuke barely chuckled and then Naruto averted back to his previous smile. It was a dumb thing to get angry about, anyway. Sakura also gave out a small laugh. Naruto looked straight and suddenly saw a flash of light on the other side of the bridge. Sakura and Sasuke though, did not see, being that they were both facing Naruto. He then looked to the left and saw another flash of light. However this one was different than the other. Afterwards, four different flashes, in four different areas occurred. Realizing what was happening, Naruto's eyes widened and he froze.
"Naruto-kun? What is it?" Sakura asked him, determined to know why he froze like that. Sakura turned around, but she didn't see anything. She looked back at Naruto who was looking straight up at the sky, counted the clouds. He spoke quietly, barely loud enough for either of the others to hear, "Three… four… five…" he paused and then spoke up, "Six clouds!"
"Naruto, is this just another one of your random episodes?" Sasuke asked, emotionlessly. Naruto looked straight again, eyes still wide open. He lifted a finger as a sign saying "wait", but didn't move his eyes. This was his chance. Not only was he going to do this because he wanted to prove his strength, but also because he felt obligated to protect a friend. Hell, he probably does hate me... Naruto's thoughts were cut off just at his target got close enough. Naruto jumped into the air. While mid-air, he grabbed a kunai from his pouch and twirling it around his finger, he completed his thought. …but he is the closest thing to a friend that I've got! I can't let him down! He landed on the ground behind Sasuke. Sasuke turned around and saw Naruto, turned the opposite direction of him, holding a kunai as if it were stabbed into something… or someone.
"Naruto-kun! Stop screwing around," Sakura shouted, "you're embarrassing me."
"I'm not screwing around." Naruto stated, sounding slightly angry. "Can you honestly not see?" Sasuke glared, either because he thought Naruto was just pulling a prank, or because Naruto could see something that he could not. Sakura shook her head back and forth, a confused expression in her eyes. Naruto removed his hand from the kunai but it didn't fall to the ground. Instead, it appeared to be floating in the air. Sasuke was right. There was something he could not see. But what was it? Or who for that matter?
Hey, everyone! Kidlet, here! I really want to know if I should continue or not so please review! Thank you!