It's not normal

"So Naruto, how was school?" Minato asks as his wife places dinner before each of them. They had shared a look when their son actually took a seat at the table for dinner since he more often than not took his dinner to his room lately. Clearly something good had happened and they hoped that he would open up to them again.

"Fine, I guess." Naruto shrugs.

"Did you meet someone new today?" Kushina asks hopeful. She's always been troubled by the fact that Naruto didn't seem to have any friends.

"In a way I guess… It's complicated and I doubt you'd understand." Naruto answers while he swirls the food on his plate around a bit with his fork, his nerves making him waver in his conviction.

"Oh sweetheart, you know you can tell us anything right?" Kushina insists.

"Your mother is right, we are here to listen and help you if we can. And well, if you don't give us the chance by telling us how will we ever understand?" Minato adds and he smiles at his son. Naruto nods and takes a deep breath.

"Well, you see, I like someone…" Naruto starts and he has a hard time continuing, not wanting to give too much away about his relationship with his crush.

"Really? That is wonderful Naruto. What is she like?" Kushina asks with a bright, warming smile as she feels proud that their son told them this much. He's been so distant lately and though Minato had said it was probably because he needed to sort his feelings out, she was still intensely relieved to find that that was indeed the case. Naruto swallows and he has to clear his throat before he continues.

"Well, uhm, a-actually it isn't a she. It's a he."

"Oh." Was his mother's initial reaction and it made Naruto's heart sink. "It… Is a good thing that you are interacting with your peers and I'm… proud of you for telling us that you are, eh, a gay."

"Indeed we are. It's very brave of you to come out to us and we're glad you did. Besides you're still young and I'm sure you're still discovering yourself so it's not a given that it will be a guy when you truly fall in love. Just know that we will love you either way." Minato smiles at his son but Naruto could see clear as day that it was a forced one.

He nodded and they proceeded to eat dinner in mostly an awkward silence. This had not been the reaction he had expected from his parents. He had thought them to be more supportive, but instead they are hesitant to accept that their child was gay. It made his already not so big appetite even smaller and every swallow of his food made him want to choke and spit it out. He managed to struggle through the rest of this major awkward dinner though and when he lay in his bed later that night he couldn't shake the feeling that telling his parents about his sexuality might not have been such a good idea after all…

It's dark all around me. Even the ground I walk upon seems to be pitch-black and there is only the eerie sound of softly howling wind. I keep walking for what feel like hours before the first words show. I vaguely recognize them, know that I have read them before. Somewhere on the internet probably.

"You will go to hell."

Not that I care. I don't believe in hell or heaven.

"You are an abomination."

When there are many people like me can we still be called abominations or are we just a new branch of our species?

"You are not normal."

Being normal is overrated. I've learned by now not to care to much about the opinions others have of me.

"You gay's should be sent to shock therapy."

"You're not a real man if you like to suck dick."

"Little bitches like you ask to be beaten and raped. Bet you'd even like it."

I hate it. All of those homophobic assholes who think they have the right to judge us. I refuse to be ashamed of whom it is that I feel attracted to!
All the different lines seem to flow to a different spot in that total darkness and together they start to form a tree. A tree made of white words and as I approach it the words seem to glow brighter and brighter, causing the darkness to reside. The darkness isn't entirely gone, it's still there right at the edges of my vision. But in the middle of it now stands a tree surrounded by grass and small flowers. I instantly recognize the tree and I walk towards it without doubt or fear. My heart beats faster as I hope to find Sasuke but as I get close enough to touch the trunk I am disappointed not to find anyone there. I sigh as I place my hand against the bark and as soon as I do so the words hidden within seem to glow again. This time it's not just the written words but the howling of the wind seems to now speak those words to me.

"You're a freak."

"You are such a disappointment."

"You. Disgust. Me."

The different voices combined with the words that act like vines grab my arms and I try to run away.

"You're pathetic."

"Masochist."

"Anyone who likes to get beaten is sick."

More vines grab my arms, my legs, my middle and I scream as they seem to burn into my skin.

"That is called the Stockholm syndrome and it's not normal."

"Lovers should always be equal."

"What is wrong with me?"

The lines pull me in, surrounding me until I'm stuck and encaged inside the tree. The tree that used to stand for bright hope. Now the tree of prejudice.

Naruto yawns as he walks through the empty hallways of his school after being kicked out of class. After the nightmare last night he had been so tired that he fell asleep during class. Ibiki wasn't the type of teacher to give a warning first and he was certainly the last teacher whose class you should fall asleep in.

Thinking back about the dream Naruto wonders for the thousandth time if his feelings for his bully were normal or not. Perhaps Sasuke didn't feel anything for him at all and was just messing around with him. Maybe he had realized his attraction for him and decided to cruelly use that against him. Beatings and name-calling and all that was tolerable and Naruto would accept it, but if Sasuke just pretended to like him to hurt him emotionally… He didn't think he could recover from such a thing. Again he sighs downtrodden as his doubts assail him. He didn't pay his surroundings much attention so when a hand pulls him to the side and another grabs his throat to push him harshly against the wall behind him, he's completely taken off guard.

"You seriously thought you could just walk me by and ignore me?"

Sounds a low threatening voice and Naruto swallows as dark eyes look into his. Or at least he tries to. The hand around his throat has a very strong grip and the realization makes it hard for him to breath. Panicking he grabs Sasuke's arm with both hands in an attempt to free himself, but his bully won't budge. He lets Naruto struggle for a little while longer before letting go after which he instantly stomps him hard in his stomach. Naruto folds over as he gasps for air and when Sasuke takes a step back his two lackeys step forward. By the time they are done with him and have left, Naruto is laying on the ground. It hadn't lasted as long as some other beatings had, Sasuke calling it off all of a sudden, nor had it been as painful. Could Sasuke be holding back? As Naruto sits up he checks himself over. His nose was bleeding, his stomach hurt and swallowing was quite painful too. He coughs a bit and when he looks into his hand he could see a few drops of blood. His eyes widen and fear suddenly makes his heart beat faster again. Beatings never lead to internal bleeding before and having to go to the hospital would make his parents wonder how this could have happened. They'd instantly make him switch schools and he would never see Sasuke gain!
Slowly he manages to stand up, leaning with one hand against the wall as he tries to calm his panicking heart and mind. Carefully he starts to make his way to the nurses office.

To be continued…