Naruto smiles at me from the door way, his small body dressed in a dark-blue suit with a red tie standing out over a white button shirt, a small backpack still half-way up his arms and his shoelaces untied. I had insisted on him not attending a public school until he could at least defend himself in all his subjects, but I still felt a bit of apprehension knowing that he would be around other kids…and children can be the coldest of enemies. "You should get going as well, can't be late for your first day of school." Itachi pats me on the back happily and I roll my eyes at him. Naruto's body was radiating with excitement, his small feet bobbing to and fro. I bend down to tie his shoelaces and I felt his hand rest on my head. "I'll be ok, so don't worry." He says as I look up at him. "It's not you I'm worried about. You'll drive your teacher to the brink of madness." Naruto looks over at Itachi in puzzlement, who replies by drawing imaginary circles on his temple, and Naruto laughs silently. "Nii-san has it worse, he can't find a pretty girlfriend." Itachi chuckles behind me and I almost growl. I was tired of telling him that Suigetsu wasn't my girlfriend…he wasn't even a girl afterall.
Naruto waves as Tanaka pulls away from the driveway, almost jumping as we got further away. He still had another hour to kill before he could go to school and Itachi would most probably be the one to drop him off, but I still felt uneasy. I wasn't sure how the other kids would react to his silence, and I was certain that they would be as forgiving as my old classmates had been, and the teachers would do very little to help.
Itachi walks in the classroom with Naruto's hand in his, a bit of apprehension on those cerulean eyes but a big smile on that tan face. I was surprised to see Iruka sitting in the front of the room, but I guessed that Itachi had asked him to, and with his connections with half of Konoha, it had probably been easy to put him there. "Do you want me to stay with you today?" Naruto shakes his head and smiles wider. "I'm ok, Mr. Iruka is here." Iruka blushes slightly and Itachi sighs, "Alright," he ruffles Naruto's hair and turns to Iruka, "If anything happens please be sure to call me." More students began to walk in, their parents waving them off from the doorway as Itachi hugs Naruto one last time before leaving. Many of the small children remain silent as they wait for a familiar face to arrive, sitting quietly in the desks that already had their names written in the front. Naruto keeps his eyes down, staring uncomfortably as his hands as he waits for something to happen before he notices the dark haired boy with red paint on his face that approached him cheerfully. "Hi! I'm Kiba! You're new aren't you?" He bends down and reads the tag on Naruto's desk slowly. "Na..Naru..Naruto! You're Naruto huh?" Naruto nods and smiles shyly, making out a "Nice to meet you" that Kiba most probably didn't understand. Kiba's head tilts to one side, his lips pursing in confusion. "Please sit down, we'll do introductions once everyone is here." Iruka quickly intervened before Kiba could say anything else, but I already saw the sudden fear in Naruto's eyes. I had warned him about this, but Naruto had been stubborn, and had refused to listen.
After Iruka presents himself to the class, one by one the students stand up and say their names, their favorite animal, and favorite color, and I could still see that Naruto was becoming more and more nervous. He was almost at the end of the class, his desk a few feet away from the door that remained open in case anyone else came in. His eyes widen as a girl stands up, his small mouth gaping open. "My name is Sakura, my favorite animals are kittens, and I love pink!" I wonder if her mother really let her obsession with that horrible color go as far as let her dye her hair pink, or if it was temporary, but pink hair certainly didn't fit her, or anyone in that matter. For some reason it caught Naruto's attention, which I really don't like. He suddenly gets more nervous, I can see his small hands beginning to shake. Just before the kid in front of him sits down, Naruto stands and walks towards the whiteboard. He takes a marker in his hand and pulls Iruka's chair against the wall. He stands and begins to write what we had practiced many times over the summer vacation. "My name is Naruto" was clearly legible against the white background, his name underlined three times over. Under that, he begins to draw a figure that I guess is a frog, and grabbing another marker he draws an orange circle. He turns around and beams at his new classmates, waving at them and bowing once. "Naruto can't speak, but that doesn't mean that he less smart than any of you. I'm sure you'll all treat him the same as any other person, right?" the class agrees in unison and Naruto makes his way back to his seat happily, whilst the shadow of a security guard forces me to move from the window and find a hiding spot amongst the bushes.
The bell rings and the playground begins fill with young children. I see Naruto's blond hair shine from afar and decide to make my way over to where he is, though I'm not sure how to make it past the security unseen. I could see Iruka stand just outside the doorway, watching his student's carefully, keeping most of this attention centered on Naruto, who had immediately been surrounded by a few of his classmates. I could feel my chest tighten up and the beats of my heart speed. I had already decided at home that if any of the kids tried to bully him, I wouldn't go easy on them. I notice the red-streaked face of the kid from before, Kiba as he had said, standing right in front of Naruto, and a sudden "I knew he was a bad kid from the moment I saw him" thought pops into my head. My body's trembling and I am still too far away to hear anything that they are saying to my small blondie, but I can't see any signs of fear in his face. On the contrary, he's smiling.
"I'm glad!" I manage to see him say, a small laugh escaping his lips. Kiba, along with another dark haired boy that wore glasses named Shino if I remember correctly, turn to the rest of the group, all of which seem to nod except for that pink haired girl that I was quickly learning to hate. She shakes her head and walks away, a blond girl following after her. I can tell Naruto's eyes glistened over, but it disappeared the moment the other kids started to spread out, Kiba beckoning to him, a game starting between the new classmates.
"What time is this to show up, Sasuke?! We're well into 6th period just so you know! I know it's the first day, but be a little more responsible!" Suigetsu caught me while I was sneaking into school, a bathroom pass in his hand.
"I was just about to call you, you always text me whenever you're sick. Thought you might need me to go over and give you a little TLC" he pouts his lips towards me, which I greet with a punch to his chest. He lets out a yelp and a dramatic tear falls from his eye, "That's so mean of you Sasuke! Can't you treat your man-whore with some love and respect?"
"Let it be stated here that I have never called you that, you said it yourself." I walk away and almost chuckle as I hear a last "How cruel!" come out of his whiny mouth. I guess that today was one of the few days that he actually forgot to carry his water bottles and he tends to get PMS-y when that happens.
I'm not called on despite entering with almost 20 minutes left of class, the teacher simply peers at me through the corner of his eye and continues to go on about the books we're supposed to read by the end of the year. I had decided to leave the elementary school after recess had ended and Naruto had settled back in his classroom. I'm still not happy about him being there, even if some kids where actually raised well enough to not be prejudice, I don't like the number of them that still stare at him like he's some sort of freak, like that pink haired rat who Naruto had looked at so fondly in the morning. I know that I can't protect him forever, no one can stand in the way of someone else's freedom, but I just wish that there was something I could do to keep Naruto smiling.
Naruto's footsteps echo loudly in the almost empty house as he rushes to meet us in the living room. Itachi had been quiet since I arrived, merely smiling coyly at me, as if tempting me to say something I don't want to say. The small blond runs right into Itachi's arms, giving him a hug that had never held so much tenderness. "Thank you Itachi!" he says after letting go of the now flustered man. "I suppose you had a good day." Itachi laughs as Naruto nods enthusiastically. "I made 2 friends! Well, 3 but she's a little shy." I frown, I don't remember seeing a girl in the group that had accepted to play with him, maybe it happened after recess. Itachi glances at me and I see that his smile grows wider. "That's great Naruto! I'm glad you had fun, now go get changed so we can go out for ice cream, we have to celebrate your first day after all." He turns to me after Naruto runs off, his smile even bigger now. "Surprised Naruto didn't see you, that would have been a rather fun story to tell." I feel my cheeks heat up and turn my face back to the book I was reading. "I don't know what you're talking about." I reply cooly, but my hands are sweating slightly. "Oh, then I guess it was some other over-protective brother skipping class and hiding in an elementary school like some sort of pedophile." I almost hear Tanaka's stifled chuckle, but he chooses to quickly go help Naruto change before I could turn to glare at him. Itachi comes over to me and ruffles my hair slightly, to which I angrily turn my glare upwards to him. He knows how much I care about keeping my hair well done, and it takes me long enough in the morning to tame it with my brush for him to undo all that work in two seconds. "Naruto needs to adapt back into society. He can't live in fear of others his entire life. Have faith in him and in others, he'll be fine." But as he turns to leave, I doubt that I can ever come to believe that…
I feel a small body snuggling up against me and my arm instinctively moves over to embrace him. Eventually, just as he now begins to part from me to make new bonds with new people, he will no longer have the need to sleep with me as he begins to grow up into the rebellious teen I am sure he will become. His small finger pokes my chest and I look down and find him smiling up at me. "Thank you for letting me go to school, I really liked it." His head presses harder against me and it isn't long before he is fast asleep. My chest tightens up…I wonder if this is what letting your kid leave the nest feels like. I'm glad I'm never going to have kids.
Ummm...sorry it took so long...lol...hope you still enjoy it! It´s still a looong ways off before ending, so I hope I can get enough free time to continue writing it. :) Thanks for reading!