That moment when you're like 'yo, how am I supposed to make this happen?' then you look at your sketchy outline and see it's already been (mostly) written through. (except when the plot writes itself and you have to revise the damn outline to keep track of everything...)
He didn't immediately read the book as he'd intended. Despite the still questionable cleanliness of his abode, he chose to instead attempt to do what he knew Iruka and Mizuki probably went through during today's class. (They had a habit of going through history and maths chapter by chapter, so the only problem was absorbing the information.)
A boring few hours were spent reading over the content, struggling to understand how an equation looked like that after just one step and how that happened, then trying to understand why this or that happened in history, (there was a lot of useless petty squabbles to be seen in the past, that had somehow been allowed to escalate to an all-out war between clans.) It didn't really help him to take notes, so he didn't even bother trying to neatly write everything down just so he could look at the same things with the same level of comprehension.
After that was katas, something he was grateful wasn't as monotonous as his previous self-appointed task. Stretching was his first priority, then he had to push his cheap low-standing table to the side to make some room in the small living area of his apartment.
The initial stance was simple enough, if a bit more rigid than he preferred. He didn't like how defensive and straight-forward the style was, but it was necessary to be proficient for him to graduate.
Carefully going from one kata to another he tried his best to imitate Sasuke, (though it irritated him to admit that bro-con really was the best of the class.) He'd never had enough money to spend on a full-length mirror, so he had to settle for squinting at the window. As he went through, he subtly adjusted his stance to be most comfortable, though he wasn't sure if he was supposed to do that or not...
It was past dark when he was satisfied he'd done as best he could without proper guidance, and he decided it was far too late for him to do strength or cardio training.
Nothing to it then; he went to bed dreaming of the book.
He woke up with little fanfare. His alarm clock was probably at its last minute or so of beeping and he was slightly more comfortable than the last time he'd woken up. His mood had already begun to sour at the thought of school and the increasingly painful throbbing of his missing eye.
Was it really an infection, as Hokage-jii had warned? He'd never had one before, so he wouldn't know.
Forcing himself to go through the motions of his monotonous daily routine, it wasn't long before he found himself walking the streets of Konoha. He wasn't sure why, but he thought that maybe the whispers were louder than usual.
"Did you hear that-"
"-can't believe he actually-"
"Wait, he got-?!"
"-should've let him-"
"-was such a good man."
Obviously, word had gotten around about the incident. The whispers were hardly whispers at this point, and it was only Naruto's distraction and disconnect with it all that allowed him to stay calm.
There might have been the occasional stone thrown at him, but he didn't know anymore. He ghosted through the front gates, through the mostly empty halls, then sat in his seat mostly unnoticed. (Iruka might have taken pity on him and stayed silent, or maybe he was just more concerned with the already napping Nara.)
"Alright everyone, you know the drill! Get out your notes; we'll be correcting them, then having our history test!" There was a unanimous chorus of groans, of which he did not partake in. Maybe he'd stayed up too late last night, or maybe it was the pain; everything felt distant, almost fuzzy.
He didn't feel... all the way there. Even when slowly asking for a pencil from a neighbor, and painstakingly writing out the, (what he hoped were,) correct answers. Eventually, he finished. Ran out of time or creativity in faking answers, he didn't know. Iruka might have started on a new lesson, but he wouldn't know that either. All he could do was focus on the blurring lights, increasingly loud ringing in his ears, and intensifying pain in his mostly-empty socket.
It got so bad that he started sweating, and succumbed to the urge to clutch at the bandages covering it. Was it his imagination, or were the bandages hot?
He lost track of time. Was he screaming? Maybe. The liquid falling down his face might have been tears.
And eventually, he didn't know anything.
He woke up in something that looked like it might be the nurse's office. His stomach growled, and a look at the sun's position confirmed that he'd missed lunch. It might have been his imagination, but his eye seemed strangely full.
It didn't hurt anymore, thankfully, but it felt different from the emptiness he'd grown accustomed to in the few days since the incident.
Disregarding all previous instruction, (and a bit of common sense, too,) he ripped the bandage off and lightly placed his fingers against his right eyelid. Underneath, he felt the soft swell of what he instinctively knew to be an eye, the wetness that protected it from his own skin. He frantically swiveled his eye to look at a far corner of the room and felt the other follow his unthought command. It was with great excitement and no small amount of awe that he went in search of a mirror. Even a kunai would suffice at this point!
He ran down the hallways, uncaring that class was still in session, or that the blond hair and orange suit easily identified him for when he has to face the repercussions. He had to find a mirror, and that meant an emergency bathroom break.
Though he fully expected to have been pursued by a stampede of teachers led by Iruka, the hallway was still empty when he dashed into the boys' bathroom.
Lo and beyond, it was him in all his sickly glory. He was paler than he'd ever been before, and his hair was kind of matted and greasy from his earlier episode. There were bags developing under his eyes, and his eyes! His left was the same crystalline blue he'd always had, but the right was... somewhat unnerving if he was being honest.
His pupil was slit almost like a cat's, and the iris had turned a bright red, (brighter even than all the blood from that day.)
Something distracted him, though. In his peripheral, he thought he saw something like a shadow behind him... but no one else was there. As he focused on it though, he thought he could see it clearer.
The figure was crying, hunched over and mumbling something,
'Why do they do that, I just want to be loved, love me, I hate you, why can't you just die already, I want to die, no I don't want to die, what will it take, I don't like it, love me, love me-'
He looked away. He didn't like how familiar it was, how vulnerable its mutterings made him feel.
He liked that he could now see fully, and didn't feel like something was missing or wrong with him. But he didn't think anyone else would think the same. They'd probably fear him more, hurt him more. He'd go back to get the bandage and cover it up again. After all, he wasn't supposed to have an eye again. It was weird for it to be there; normal people didn't just regain lost parts like that.
But as soon as he stepped out of the bathroom, Iruka called out to him.
"Naruto! I thought that you were still in the med bay." He hurriedly clamped the abnormal eye shut as the teacher approached. Iruka clicked his tongue when he saw the small boy's appearance. "What happened to your bandage? You know what, I know that you just got out of the sickbay, but let's go back; just to get some clean bandages for that eye of yours."
"Ah- sure..." If Iruka noticed his strange behavior, he didn't comment on it.
While they walked back to the medbay, the bell rang, and students started pouring in to crowd the hallways. Iruka tried his best to shield the blond from the horde of bodies, but even then they got jostled around as they struggled to their destination.
It was a trial getting there, but it helped that kids gradually went to their next class. Iruka himself seemed to be heaving as be braced himself against the doorway, while Naruto just went to grab the bit of gauze that he was prepared to protect with his life.
Securely tying it in place, he squared his small shoulders and turned to Iruka. The man had perked up considerably in the minute since he'd looked at him, and was watching him with... what was that look in his eyes? He didn't know what to call it, but it didn't really matter since it didn't seem to mean he was hostile. After they finished assessing each other, Iruka stood straight and motioned for him to follow.
"Come, Naruto. I know you had a rough start, but you need to be in class. Gotta be there to make up for when you skip, right?"
He didn't always skip on purpose, but he doubted that Iruka would believe him. So instead of defending himself, he simply nodded, if only to escape the scrutiny he was under.
Their walk back to class was uneventful and just as quiet as when he last left the sickbay and its hard, sterile cots.
Though that was quickly rectified with the opening of the sliding door, releasing a wave of noise as his classmates argued loudly or were goofing off, Mizuki huddled in the corner doing nothing to mediate the problems that would quickly escalate had Iruka not intervened right then.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"
A hush fell over the children and they all froze in their movements.
"Uh..." Someone, (Kiba probably,) seemed about ready to answer his very rhetorical question, when the angry teacher quickly put the class back to rights.
"SIT DOWN OR SO HELP ME I WILL ASSIGN YOUR SEATS AND SHORTEN RECESS FOR THE NEXT WEEK!" As everyone scrambled back to their shared desks, Naruto slinked back to the seat he usually occupied and waited for Iruka to reign in his temper and start the next lesson.
"Why's Naruto-"
"-he'd even bother-"
"-classic dead-last, you know?"
The whispers were starting again. They might not have implied as much violence as the usual sort from the grown-ups, but it still hurt because these were more pointed about him, from his personality to his appearance or punctuality. These whispers were that of the closest thing he had to friends.
He tried to focus on the lesson; really, he did. It was just hard to do with so many distractions. From the whispers to the shadow... shadows? But he'd covered his eye; why could he still see them?
That just made it even harder to focus. And by the time the last bell rang, he hadn't a clue what they'd just gone over for class. While everyone else was packing their things into their small bags or packs, he hurriedly tried to escape from what looked like a mass of bodies, some solid and others near nonexistent.
It was when everyone was rushing to get out that he encountered trouble. He didn't know how it happened, nor whose fault it was, (was there even someone to blame in situations like these?) All he knew was one second he had the bandage/patch, and then he could see with both eyes. There was a moment's relief of seeing to his fullest capacity, but that quickly died at the sound of a scream.
It was Sakura, the beautiful and smart Sakura who was now pale and pointing a shaking finger at him, drawing more attention.
"What happened to your eye?!"
'That can't be human; he's a monster! I knew he was freaky!'
'Oh, I wonder if that's what the sharingan will look like. It'll be cool when Sasuke gets his!'
He shook his head, trying to block out the voices. Of all people, why did Sakura have two?!
"I uh, it was a training accident!"
"No accident can make your eye look like that! I knew my mom was right! You are a freak!"
'I knew he was never normal.'
'What is that?!'
'Disgusting.'
'I always knew it was a cover-up. The brat really is the kyuubi!'
He flinched. There was so much all at once, he couldn't keep up. And what was this about the kyuubi?!
He- he couldn't take it. He turned tail and ran. He pushed his way through the minor crowd, (probably also pushing at things that weren't there,) and immediately took to the roofs. In all of three days, his life had been fucked up more than he knew how to deal with.
He didn't think he'd come to school the next day.
Hi! I was hoping to incorporate 'The Book' into this chapter a bit more, but it seems that's just something for next chapter.
Imma be honest, this fic is probably my second fav, (if you haven't noticed.) It sucks that it's taking me so long to develop the plot, and I'll definitely have to edit once I'm done because I'm kind of shit at writing how I want characterization. Sorry it's not a ton of excitement at the get-go...
Oh, and I apologize for my fluctuation with honorifics. I'm gonna try to keep them minimal, but some are just unavoidable if I want to keep that same level of closeness... On the other hand, please like, subscribe, and definitely comment! Be it just what you think will happen, or a simple 'nice chappie,' I highly appreciate any and all comments you are willing to give me, (so long as they aren't telling me how trash I am. I can do that myself, thank you.)