Chapter 5:
Just a Child
The first signs of morning came when the sunlight began to rise above the horizon. But as many people were still groggily trying to get up from their beds, one individual was already up and awake. The young man was currently staring at a large piece of stone with many names carved into it. There were two names in particular that the individual could not keep his eyes off of. They were those of his parents. They had died during the battle with the nine-tailed demon fox, Kyuubi. He was there that fateful night and watched in horror as his parents were murdered right in front of him. Even though the Third had told him it wasn't his fault, he still felt a sense of guilt; and so, everyday, the young man would come to pay respects and apologize to his parents at the memorial.
As the young man continued to reflect upon the past, footsteps began to slowly creep up behind him.
"Oi! Iruka!" the voice suddenly called out.
Iruka tensed up and suddenly turned around with a kunai in his hand, ready to strike the enemy that drew near.
"Wha—? I surrender! I surrender!" the young shinobi smiled as he jokingly raised his hands to signify his defeat.
"Ah! Sorry about that, Mizuki…" Iruka apologized. "It was reflex."
"Eh, no worries," Mizuki replied, dropping his arms down and walking closer to where Iruka was standing. "I see you're up pretty early today," he said as he looked at the stone in front of him.
"Yeah… I wanted to come up here and do some reflecting," Iruka responded.
"Hmm…" Mizuki nodded as he walked towards the memorial grave. "You know, I feel sorry for these people," he suddenly said.
"Eh? What makes you say that?" Iruka asked.
"Well, it's just that these people will never get a chance to see the changes that the village has gone through. They'll never even get to see their children grow up. It's sad when you think about it."
Iruka tensed. What Mizuki had said hit home.
"'These people died with honor. They sacrificed their lives to protect their comrades, and they sacrificed their lives to protect this village.' That's what the Third said during one of his lectures. But you know, sometimes I ask myself, 'Why did these people have to sacrifice their lives in order to protect everyone? Why couldn't they cherish their own lives and forget about the others? Why not just grow stronger until they were strong enough to overcome the enemy? Then they wouldn't have needed to sacrifice their lives.' To become a ninja you must be strong. And in order to stay alive as a ninja, you need to grow stronger." Mizuki gave a light chuckle before continuing, "If I was as strong as that demon fox then I wouldn't have to ever worry about sacrificing my own life. I would just blow away my enemies with one blow!" Mizuki finished, a smile on his face.
Iruka grunted. "I'm sure that kid would have nothing to worry about then…" he whispered to himself.
"Well anyway, I should tell you the reason why I'm here," Mizuki began, turning around to face Iruka. "The Sandaime wants to see you. It seems he has a mission for you."
"Eh? A mission?" Iruka asked, curious.
"Yeah. Sounded pretty important, too."
"Hmn. Then I better go and report in."
"Alright then. Good luck. I'll be going ahead of you," Mizuki replied before jumping up and disappearing through the trees.
Iruka gave one last look at the memorial and then proceeded to head towards the Hokage's office. Once he arrived a few of minutes later, Iruka signaled his presence by knocking on the office doors.
"Come in," a voice said.
"You asked for me, sir?" Iruka asked as he walked in.
"Ah! Iruka-san. Yes, yes… I did indeed call for you. There's something that I need you to do for me," the old man replied as he turned away from the window.
"A mission, sir?"
"Mission?" the Third gave a light chuckle. "I wouldn't really consider it a mission, but rather an errand."
"An errand?" Iruka asked, curious as to what the Sandaime had to say.
"Yes, normally I would do this myself, but as you can see, my hands are pretty much full," the Third replied, gesturing at the large stacks of paper on his desk.
"I understand," Iruka nodded. "What is it that you need me to do?"
"Do you see that sack in the corner over there?" the old man asked, pointing at a large sack in the corner of the room.
"Yes."
"Inside that sack is some food. I need you to deliver it for me."
"Deliver it where?"
"Actually it's not very far. It's inside the village. But to whom you will be delivering it to? You will be delivering it to a young boy."
"A young boy?" Iruka asked, surprise evident in his voice.
"Yes. The boy lives by himself since he does not have any parents."
"He's like me then," Iruka whispered to himself. "Then of course I will accept, sir!" Iruka said aloud.
"Good to hear it!" the Sandaime replied with a smile. He went towards the table and picked up a folder. "Here is his profile. In it is the address in which you will be delivering the food to," the old man said as he gave the folder to Iruka.
Iruka proceeded to look through the folder. His eyes suddenly widened, however, when he saw the name and picture that was printed at the top of the page. He immediately closed the folder shut.
"U-Uzumaki…Naruto...!" Iruka said to himself. "I have to deliver the food to this kid!"
"Hmm?" The Third noticed the expression on Iruka's face. "I see… so you remember him then?"
"How could I not!" Iruka replied with a growl. "He's the reason why my parents are dead!" Iruka exclaimed.
"Oh? Is he now?" the old man asked quietly.
"He killed them!"
"A little child did that?"
"He…he…the demon…" Iruka tried to explain but to no avail. He gave a loud growl of frustration.
"A child is still just a child, Iruka-san."
"But, he's not an ordinary child."
"Are you sure about that? He may carry a burden inside him, but if you take a closer look at him, you will see what I mean."
"I don't care, I still won't accept him. I'm sorry Sandaime, but it seems that I will not be able to accept this errand after all," Iruka finished, bowing to the Sandaime before quickly leaving through the office doors.
On the other side of the office, however, a grin had appeared on the old man's face.
Iruka walked around the village for a little while after his encounter with the Third. Talking with him had brought up some horrible memories that he wished he could forget. He remembered the look on his mother's face as she was struck by the fox demon. He remembered what had happened to his father. He remembered all the bodies that were lying on the ground. It was a massacre. And it was all because of that little boy—the demon that almost destroyed the whole village of Konoha.
Iruka continued to walk around, trying to clear his head of the tragic memories. He suddenly halted, however, when he noticed a commotion in one of the shops.
"I will not serve anything to the likes of you! Get out! Out, I say!" a voice shouted.
A child was then roughly pushed outside where he fell on the ground. The child looked down dejectedly.
Iruka, seeing everything that unfolded, was about to go inside the store to tell the owner off when he saw exactly who the child was. Iruka's eyes widened.
"T-that's him! Uzumaki, Naruto!" he said to himself. Iruka's anger began to rise. This was the boy that caused him all of his anguish. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted, however, when the boy suddenly began to talk.
"Argh! I hate this! All I want is some food, damnit!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Food?" Iruka asked himself. "Oh, that's right. I didn't accept the Sandaime's errand. I guess no one else has delivered the food yet."
After that incident, Iruka couldn't help but follow Naruto. He was genuinely curious as to what the child was going to do next. But somewhere in the back of his mind, Iruka was slightly concerned with the little kid. It was partly his fault that Naruto was out here in the first place, after all. Iruka followed Naruto as the child continued to walk down the road. As he followed the little child around, Iruka saw the many glares that Naruto was getting.
Iruka felt his chest tighten for some reason.
He noticed that Naruto was looking down and wasn't really paying attention to where he was going or his surroundings.
"He probably doesn't know the amount of glares he's receiving," Iruka told himself.
Iruka's thought was interrupted when he saw Naruto fall to the ground, a large kid in front of him.
"Ouch! Hey kid, you hit me!" the pudgy kid exclaimed, glaring at Naruto.
"I did not! 'Sides you were in the way, what with that big body of yours!" Naruto retorted back as he got up off the floor.
The group of kids seemed to respond to his statement as they got ready to pounce on him, but the large child stopped them.
"Wait!" the group's leader exclaimed. "You've got guts, you know that kid? Insulting me like that," the pudgy boy told Naruto.
"Damn! This doesn't look good," Iruka told himself. He watched as the boy walked around Naruto.
"What's this? A bag? Hey, hey… what's in this thing?" the boy asked Naruto.
"It's nothing!" Naruto replied as he tried to hide the small bag behind his back.
"Doesn't look like nothing to me."
"It's just something that I carry around with me."
The pudgy boy grinned. "Must be something pretty important then. Tell ya what? How 'bout giving me that bag as payment for hitting me?" he asked.
"To someone as fat as you? I don't think so. 'Sides I didn't hit you. You bumped into me," Naruto replied.
"You're getting on my nerves kid."
"Kid? And what does that make you? You can't even reach the damn table with you're height yo—"
Naruto was interrupted when one of the kids from the group caught him by surprise and tackled him to the ground. Iruka was about to go and help Naruto when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, signaling him to stop what he was about to do. Turning around, he saw the Third Hokage standing above him. The old man shook his head. Iruka had no choice but to continue to watch the scene unfold.
He watched as Naruto was punched in the stomach while another kid from the group grabbed his bag.
"Let's get out of here, before any of the adults see us!" one of the kids shouted.
The pudgy kid stood up, and then looked down on Naruto.
"Psh. You're not worth it," he told Naruto as he ran away with his group.
Naruto stayed sprawled on the ground as he watched the kids disappear down the road.
"Why did you stop me? I could have stopped them," Iruka asked irritated
The old man gave a small chuckle. "Iruka-san, have you not noticed yet?"
Iruka was beginning to get even more agitated. "Notice what?"
"Stop and listen to yourself for a moment," the Sandaime told him, a grin on his face. "Why is it that you want to stop those children from hurting him?"
"Eh? Because he's just… a…" Iruka caught himself. His eyes suddenly widened.
The old man's smile grew.
"…child…" Iruka finished softly.
"Hmn… It seems you have realized it without even knowing it." The Sandaime gave another chuckle.
A moment of silence passed before Iruka finally spoke.
"I-I always thought that Naruto would be much more…nastier…" Iruka began.
The old man gave a chuckle at this.
"But after seeing him today…"
"He's not as demonic as you thought he was," the Third finished for him.
"You know, somewhere in my mind, I thought that Naruto would just defeat those kids with ease."
"He is after all the fox demon…"
"N-no… after that… no…"
"Oh?"
"He's just another child…"
"So you've come to accept it then?"
"Y-yes…"
"Let's head back to my office then," the old man said, with a smile on his face.
"Y-yes…" Iruka replied.
The two began to walk towards the Hokage's office.
"Sir?" Iruka suddenly voiced out. "I-is it too late to change my mind and accept that errand?"
"Hmm… well, let's see…" the Sandaime began. "No one has yet to accept the errand, and it seems that my break is over so that means I must get back to work. Hmn. I guess there's no helping it then."
"Then…?"
"Yes, you can pick up the sack when we get back."
"Thank you, sir!"
In the end, Iruka picked up the sack and delivered it to the specific address—that of one Naruto Uzumaki, a child he once thought was nothing but an evil reincarnation of the fox demon. Iruka's mind seemed to have changed after what he had seen that day.
As he was unpacking all the food from the sack, Iruka took a good look around Naruto's room. It was plain with just the bare necessities. It was messy, but with just one kid living in one small apartment, it was to be expected. Iruka thought back of what happened that day, what Naruto had gone through.
"In a way, he reminds me of…me…" Iruka couldn't help but chuckle at that thought.
Once he finished unpacking, he took one last look around the room before heading out. Just a few moments after he had left, a young blond-haired boy opened the door to his apartment to find a surprise waiting for him.
A/N: Wow… a couple of months with no word from me. Sorry about that. I've been away performing and doing college work at the same time, so I haven't had the chance to write these past few months. But now that vacation is here, I'll be on my computer writing. Just so you know, I will not abandon any story whatsoever. Even if it takes me years, I will finish it.
Anyway, time to talk about the current chapter. This was actually shorter compared to the other ones, but it was also one of the harder ones to write. I wanted to show some irony in what Iruka thought and what he says about Naruto. I also wanted to show a growing progression of change in him. I wanted to show it in a way that was subtle, in that he would not notice it until he actually stopped to think about everything. In the end, this is what I came up with. I hope it came out well.
You also saw Mizuki in this chapter. If you noticed from all the things he said, you might have noticed that I tried to explain some of his motives as to why he does what he does later on. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then refer to the first episode or first chapter of Naruto.
By the way, the Third seemed to be more of a grandfather figure in this chapter…a very wise and mysterious one at that. Hmmm… remind you of anyone? Haha, joking aside, it's time to get this ball rolling again. You may have noticed that the timeline in this chapter is the same as that of Chapter 2, where Naruto first meets the ramen stand owner. This was actually not my first choice. I actually had to rewrite the previous one into the present one. I felt the other one did not flow like I wanted it to. So this is the end product.
Now that the chapter's over, this marks the end of Iruka's flashbacks. It's now time to head back to the present where new characters await. And for some people, it may just be the start of something that you've been waiting for. Oh, and you'll also find out what happened to those kids that robbed Naruto. Thanks for being patient guys! I do hope that you continue reading. 'Till next time!
This chapter has not been beta-read.