Lol, when you think I'd be updating CotF first. Sorry, not sorry.
When Naruto woke up, he felt groggy and less awake than usual. He felt like the previous night was all a vicious nightmare, a product of his imagination; but the bloodstained blanket and stickiness of his own dried blood reminded him that it was real.
As usual though, he could already tell that he would be late for class, if he wasn't already. Glass was still cluttered in the corners and strewn about the floor, telltale glint barely visible to him thanks to the peeking rays of the morning sun. Picking up his small alarm clock from its face-down position by his door, he saw that it was nine o'clock.
Class had started by now, so why not tidy up the room a bit? He'd just go to class during the lunch break.
And so that's what he set off to do. Slipping on his blue sandals, he walked into the tiny kitchen to retrieve his broom and dustpan. First order of business: clean up the bed. This too was covered in broken glass, though it wasn't like he had the money to buy a new one. The only option left was to clean it, try cleaning it some more, and then burn it if that didn't work.
Rolling up the thin comforter, he dragged both that and the sheets out to the deck to hang on the clothesline. (Sometimes the dryer decided it didn't want to work, and he had to leave everything out to the mercy of the elements and the villagers.)
When he had as much as he could fit strung up, he gripped his old broom and took a swing.
Glass, dust, and who knows what else immediately clouded around him, falling to the wooden planks beneath his feet and to the ground below.
Evidently, he did not think this through.
Little shards of light stuck to his clothes and flew into his nest of hair. Already, he could feel the burning itch of tiny cuts accumulating, though he couldn't really stop now that he'd started. When he was all done cleaning, he'd be sure to change into that new orange jumpsuit Hokage-jiji had gifted him before the whole festival debacle.
The dust had settled now, but Naruto was sure that that was not the end to the shards embedded within the bedding. And so he whacked some more, eventually using his anger and frustration to fuel his hits.
With each hit, he felt a little better and less angry; his breaths quickening as his hits lost their mindless edge. He wasn't okay, not yet. But it was a start.
When his arms tired of their swinging, he bundled everything up once more and put it in the small washer that always protested loudly, but worked nonetheless.
After that, he started sweeping the clutter to a contained pile. Likely everything that he swept up would be broken or unusable, and therefore garbage. It was with a heavy heart that he had to include a few articles of clothing in this category as well. He'd just have to scavenge for more at a later date.
It was then that he remembered the small carcasses scattered about. He wasn't quite sure how he'd managed to forget about them, seeing as he'd had to clear the bedding and floor of them, but the smell of his apartment was a tad overripe when he accidentally stepped on one. Disgusted, he gathered them together and plotted to pelt the main perpetrators with them when he had the time.
Looking around, he saw that there wasn't much he could do at this point. The paint would take more effort to remove than he was willing to put in at the moment, and there was no remedy for a soiled mattress other than letting it air out.
Since he was almost positive all of his food was either pilfered or expired, the last thing he could do was take a shower and change his clothes.
So he hopped into the always cold shower, scrubbed himself down, and quickly hopped out before a chill could settle. Though the process wasn't always as extensive as today, this was his daily routine. And despite how it's been so far, Naruto was almost excited for the day to come.
He'd never gotten to wear anything nice before, and disregarding the bright hue, his new jumpsuit was of quality material that would be more durable and stain-resistant. It was one of the best, (and only,) presents he'd ever received!
He looked at the clock again. 11:48 A.M. Lunch break would start in about ten minutes; perfect time to catch a bowl of ramen.
The stares and whispers were more obvious today. The ones who hadn't participated in yesterday's hunt were slightly appalled when they saw the state of his eye. They all knew of his heightened regenerative abilities; for it to not be on the mend meant something drastic had been done, and someone had most likely been punished for it.
While most sneered when he accidentally made eye contact, there were surprisingly few smirks sent his way.
That was fine though. God didn't love him, so why would they?
Walking up to his favorite ramen stand, he initiated his usual greeting.
"One large bowl of miso, old man!"
"Comin' right up, Naruto! This one's on the house since we didn't see you yester...day. Naruto, what happened to your eye?" Teuchi asked in concern when he went to face his favorite customer.
Naruto started. He'd nearly forgotten about his new blindspot and felt a little self-conscious facing such blatant concern for his well-being.
"Oh, this? Eh-heh, um, training accident?"
Teuchi looked unimpressed with his transparent lie but chose to keep his questions at bay when he saw Naruto's pleading look. Instead, he sighed.
"Okay kid. You've gotta be more careful in the future, though." Naruto almost sighed in relief but refrained. Instead, he gave his trademark close-eyed smile.
"Sure thing, pops! Now, about that free ramen..." The chef gave a deep, bellowing laugh at that, amused and slightly flattered to hear how eager another was for his cooking.
"I've got it right here, don't you worry. Alright; enjoy." The blond happily obliged, digging into the meal with a gusto rivaled only by those of the Akimichi clan. He hadn't eaten any breakfast, so his metabolism was demanding he consume something high-calorie this instant to help speed along the healing process. In summary, he was famished. Without him realizing it, one bowl turned into two, and two turned to three. As he was finishing off his most recent conquest, he felt a violent shiver run down his back.
A shadowy figure loomed behind him, expression not unlike an enraged bull.
"Skipping again, are we?" The blond immediately stopped slurping his noodles, and slowly turned to face the teacher. Honestly, despite not even entertaining the thought of inflicting pain upon him like the villagers, the chuunin was still downright scary.
"Hey, Iruka-sensei," he said awkwardly, scratching at the nape of his neck. "How's your day been?"
"Oh, just peachy. In fact, I'd say it was a little too good since the class was so quiet without you there to liven things up," the older man said, his glare contradicting his cheery words.
"Wow sensei; that almost sounded like a compliment." Naruto was sweating a bit from the heat of Iruka's passive-aggressive wrath and hoped to stall the man for enough time to marginally calm his temper.
"What did I say about-," he stopped abruptly. "What happened to your face, Naruto?"
Naruto was then acutely aware of the concern of his teacher, something mostly unfamiliar to him.
"Eh, it's nothing. Just an accident from... training," he finished lamely, just remembering the lie he told to Teuchi, who was now blatantly listening in to their conversation with a suspicious look on his face.
Though unlike Teuchi, Iruka didn't accept his excuse so easily.
"You're still a kid, Naruto; you can't work yourself so hard. And I highly doubt you went to get treated by the hospital staff judging by those shoddy bandages. Come," he said, pulling the small boy from his stool.
"W-where are you taking me, Iruka-sensei?" He had a good idea of where the agitated teacher was taking him, but that didn't mean he liked it at all.
"To the hospital, of course," Iruka said like that should've been apparent from the start.
Naruto locked his legs, throwing his weight against the hold in an attempt to halt their progress. Iruka tried to keep pulling but stopped when he saw that the boy really wouldn't budge.
"Come on, Naruto. We need to get that treated before it gets infected!"
"No! I don't care; I'm not going in that hellish place you call a hospital and not even you can make me!"
"Naruto, it's for your own good. Now come on!"
"No!" The blond tore away from his teacher's grip, determined to stay away. If he went to the hospital as Iruka wanted, he was sure he'd acquire even more damage, be it by an "accident" or poisoning. Everyone hated him, and he wouldn't put it past them to try to kill him now that he was weakened.
He would not be going to the nest of vipers; not today.
Knowing that his teacher didn't understand, (probably didn't want to anyway,) he ran. He knew that on his good days, he could evade even the best ANBU, but today was not one of those. To up his chances of escape, he pulled out all the stops: he took sharp turns, pushed through crowds before anyone recognized him, and circled back every once in a while to put the spontaneity he was known for to use.
When he finally stopped, he felt a wetness trail down his cheek. Lifting a hand to feel what it was, his fingers came back smeared with blood. His wound had started bleeding again from all the sudden exercise, and he just noticed a dull throb had settled behind his eye, almost like when he got extreme migraines.
His breaths came out in ragged gasps and he desperately wanted to double over to catch his breath. But no, he had to maintain a straight posture and open airway.
He didn't know how long he'd been standing in that dim alleyway trying to regain breath, focusing on his breathing exercises, but he eventually noticed Iruka sitting off to the side. He was far enough away to remain mostly unnoticed and unregistered as a threat, but close enough to block the other escape route that led to a larger maze of passageways.
God, now Naruto just felt pitiful. He tried his hardest, but that effort amounted to nothing in the end.
Hoping he didn't look like a petulant child, he slid down the rough brick wall to join the other on the floor, sitting opposite in the hard dirt.
They sat in silence, neither willing to be the first to acknowledge the "elephant in the room," so to speak. While the blond remained unmoving in his still silence, the chuunin sighed and spoke up to break the ice.
"Why won't you come with me? It's the hospital; you're supposed to be able to trust them." Iruka's hurt statement hung in the air like a heavy accusation. But why did it matter to him? Who cared about the demon boy that gained just more wound? Who cared if the little demon boy won't go to the hospital? Just a step closer to its death, others would say. Others would rejoice at his hurt, at the thought of having the opportunity to let that hurt fester and hurt more. So why didn't he?
"A fear of doctors is completely normal for a kid your age, but you shouldn't let that stop you from getting the help you need. How will you be able to continue through the academy as a ninja, to achieve your dream of Hokage if that doesn't get better?" the teacher ranted.
While it might have been meant to inspire him, it just made Naruto more aware of how unreachable his dream was.
"It doesn't matter. Becoming Hokage, having parents even if they're dead, none of that matters! So what if I don't want to go to the hospital?! No one will care, even if I die!" They stared at each other, his outburst even surprising Naruto himself.
"Naruto, that's not-"
"No, it's fine. Sorry for wasting your time; I'm sure class has resumed by now." Naruto stormed off before allowing Iruka further say. He didn't want to hear any of the usual lies today; wasn't in the mood for the cheap platitudes fed to all orphaned children so boost their confidence and give them hope in The Will of Fire.
But now where would he go? Ichiraku Ramen was off the table; (it'd be too predictable and easy to trace, not to mention he wasn't hungry anymore.) His home... wasn't even an option. There was absolutely no way he'd be going back to that depressing shit-hole that was his home, the mess that it was.
But maybe...? There was the smallest chance that he'd be allowed to visit Hokage-jiji, and with him, the heavy security clearance needed for access. And really, that was the safest place for someone like him, (and it'd been a while since he'd paid a visit with a reason other than property damage.)
Oof. This ended up being longer than I like, (and also mostly set-up for the next chapter that'll be a bit more significant to the plot.)
I wanted to work on this story more, but I'm having more than a bit of trouble with this Naruto's characterization, so the next update might come after chapter 9 of Cries of the Forest.
And I got a rough outline started, and let me just say, I'm gonna fuck your shit up... if we ever get there. We've got elements of OP!Naruto, Insane!Naruto, ANBU!Naruto, Jashinist!Naruto, and so much more. This is probably going to be one of the most difficult things I've written, what with both action+religious themes. If all goes well, I'll definitely be a better writer by the end of it. In the meantime, read, comment, enjoy, and keep an eye out for the next update!