Name: The best ninja outfit
Genre: general;
Fan fiction type: one-shot;
Main character: Uzumaki Naruto;
Summary: Naruto gets ready for the first day of a new semester at the ninja academy.
Story tags: canon compliant, kid Naruto, wholesome;
Posted on: May 4th 2020;
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
THE BEST NINJA OUTFIT
In front of the local convenience shop, two streets away and a five minute walk from his apartment building was the hot spot hangout for the kids in the area. Usually, by the time he got there the kids had enough players for their game. Today it was a little past 10 and he was the first one to show up.
Naruto would definitely have someone to play with.
He smiled and his heart started to flutter. There was already a hopscotch court drawn into the dirt from the day before. Maybe they would start with this?
It was on the side of the road, out of the way of traffic, under the shade of an oak tree. There weren't many people walking around at this time of day and if they were passing by, they all seemed deep in thought or in a hurry to get somewhere.
Naruto kicked the dry dirt under his shoes and a layer of dust sprinted off ahead. How much longer until they came? He began walking around the drawing on the ground until he grew tired of going in circles. Then he stood in one place until that became too boring so he jumped from one foot to the other.
He shot the hopscotch court a glance. It wouldn't hurt to start playing, would it? He could get some practice in and when the others showed up, let them have the next turn. He grabbed a small pebble off the side of the road.
Naruto placed his feet at the start of the game and flung the pebble right ahead landing on number 7. Raising his left leg up, he jumped over the first line and counted in his head until his foot landed on the seventh slab, which prompted him to throw his hands in the air.
Each game he would keep an eye on the ground ahead and another at the surrounding road, ready to call in any kid that came to the hangout. But even as he landed his fiftieth turn, he didn't notice anyone.
Naruto grabbed the pebble and tossed as far up the road as he could. Nobody was coming. Did they see him from far away and decided to play somewhere else? He leaned against the oak tree, shoulders visibly slumped. There was still time in the day, he would wait until sunset.
Someone came out of the store. It was a man carrying a bag with groceries and a little boy who couldn't be older than he was.
"Dad, can I play with Yushiko after lunch?" he asked.
"I was thinking we should go shopping for ninja tools. The academy starts in a few days," he responded.
The little boy's eyes grew large and he grabbed the leg of his father, raising on his tippy toes. "Can I get a shuriken holder?"
"Sure," he said.
"Thanks, dad, you're the best!" the boy said and the man ruffled his hair.
With that they went off down the dirt road, most likely home where the mother was waiting for the ingredients in order to cook lunch. Naruto tore his glance from them and eyed down at his feet. In a few days September rolled around, bringing with it the start of the new ninja academy year.
For the past month Naruto had enjoyed his vacation, being able to spend most of his time playing outside or walking around Konoha. The early mornings, the constant studying, the kids who couldn't stand him. Why would he miss it? And all of this would start with the worst day of them all, the first day of academy when everyone would be either too excited for the semester, too happy to see their friends, too proud of their own child to glance in his direction.
He would be nothing but a fly on the wall.
His heart grew tighter in the chest and he moved away from the tree. If only he could change their mind, make them see him as less of a loser…Talking his way into it wouldn't work because they wouldn't listen to him, but looking a certain way could convince them to give him a chance.
If he wore the coolest outfit on the first day, then they would be so impressed. They had been away from each other for a month, if he could kill his first day, then this could make the next year different for him!
Hangout left behind, Naruto sprinted home and went straight to the first drawer of the nightstand. Wood creaked as he pulled it open and he grabbed a small cartoon box. He uncovered the lid and took out all the money he had. The more he counted it, the more his heart sank. It wasn't enough even for a normal outfit…
Naruto went to the sock drawer of his armoire and dug around the unmatched pairs until he found one tied at the top. He undid the knot and poured the change inside the cartoon box. He eyed the coins as they fell and when the last one hit he knew that even this wasn't enough.
Next he went into the kitchen and grabbed the key bowl off the counter. Every time he came home he dropped his keys and spare change here, if he had any. It was mostly empty, save for a few coins.
Naruto swallowed hard. This added up to nearly nothing. It's not enough… I can't get new clothes for the start of the year…
He imagined showing up for the opening ceremony in his best pants and shirt, which were worn over despite being used only on special occasions. He saw himself at the gates and the whole kids around him, holding the hands of their parents, looking all done up for the day, some of them even having a shuriken holder wrapped around their thighs.
He opened his eyes, he couldn't stay in that place any longer. He pulled one of the kitchen drawers open and got the green tea pot. He raised the cap and pulled out the bit of cash tied up with an elastic. His back up money for food. He looked at the bills and for a moment tried to reason with himself. It was just another day, a sucky day where he had to get up early, get ready and go to a place where they ratted on about lessons he didn't understand. Yes, that was right, that was the ninja academy. It wasn't worth it to use his savings up for it.
Was it?…
The stack of bills was above the open tea pot, if he let go, it would fall back in and he could forget any of this happened. But the promise of a new beginning, of change, of people finally seeing him, it was too alluring for him to move on. So he grabbed the money and bolted back into his bedroom to count it all up.
It will be so worth it, believe it!…
Naruto plopped onto the bed and began counting from the beginning, every coin and every bill for this was all he had left. And when he got the total number, his heart sank further into his chest. It still wasn't enough.
He cursed the coins and bills sprawled on the bed for how they stole away his one chance. Eyes watered as he grabbed the coins and put them back in the box, each hitting it with a thud one at a time.
He did everything he could and still… When the last coin hit the cartoon box and he had to wrap up his savings with a rubber band, he started to question if this was really it, if there was anything else he could do.
As the rubber band flicked over the pressed bills, he came up with something. He hadn't done it in a while and the last time he did try it, it ended badly, but what was it to him if he gave this a shot too? His day was already ruined.
Naruto went to the second to last door at the end of his corridor, gave out his best try at puppy eyes and knocked a few times.
Sounds came from behind the door, first a grumble, then the clear sounds of heavy feet dragging against the floor and finally the creak of the door handle.
In front of him stood a tall man well into his yeas, head bald at the top and tummy poking forward from underneath his shirt. The proprietor of the apartment building.
"Oh, it's you," he said as his eyes nailed down at his little figure. He gave out a raspy wet cough. "What do you want?"
The moment the man eyed him down Naruto forgot everything he had prepared to say. He gulped and looked down at his feet. "Ninja academy is starting in a few days… and I need to get some things." He grabbed the edge of his shirt. "And I… I was wondering if I could get my stipend early…"
As an orphan, he received a stipend on the fifteenth of every month. It was on behalf of child protective services, the Hokage had explained to him once, and since he lived in this apartment building, the proprietor was responsible for handing it to him. Where the money came from didn't matter that much, as long as it got to him and it was enough to take care of himself.
Naruto didn't dare to lift up his head for he was sure the look he received was far too threatening for even him to shrug off. Instead he pressed his knees together, raising one of his feet on its tippy toes and swaying it left to right.
"The mold in the shower," he said. "Did you clean it up?"
It was something the proprietor had told him some time ago after an apartment check up, but he ignored it. But if he asked this question, this meant there was chance!
Naruto was ready to bluff it but as he lifted his head and he saw his eyes, the 'yes' got caught at the tip of his tongue. "N-no…" he said and clasped his hands together.
The man grumbled something and turned on his heel, leaving the door open in his wake. A few strange noises later, he returned. "The stipend for September." He handed him money. "Here's half. Get some bleach for the mold and clean it up. It better be done by tonight."
Naruto grabbed the money, his eyes bright. "I will, thank you so much!" he said but the man slammed the door.
A new hope aflame, he skipped back into his bedroom where he counted all the money up again. This, this was definitely enough for a new outfit!
He grabbed all the money, tossed it in his frog wallet and booked it out of the apartment. Feet took him three streets away from home, on one of the main roads of Konoha and there, just a few doors ahead, was the place where he stayed window shopping on far too many accounts.
Today, behind the glass case an adult mannequin wore a jonin flak jacket, black biker shorts, which were partially covered on one side with bandages and a shuriken holder on top, and ninja combat boots that reached up to their knees. Another one was sitting on a chair, one leg crossed over the other and chin resting in a hand propped up by the elbow. It was wearing ninja sandals, a baggy jumpsuit belted at the waist, fingerless gloves and a bandana tied at the back of the head.
Naruto didn't linger, he entered the store. The room was full of racks upon racks of jackets and vests and shirts and shelves filled with folded trousers and shorts and skirts. His heart thrust against his sternum as he took in all the styles, all the accessories, all the colors, some of which he could finally get for himself.
He went further into the store, passing the initial area for adults into another room through an entryway. It spread left and right, two signs hanging by the ceiling indicating what the space was for: ages 5 through 10 and 11 through 18, respectively.
The room to his left was sectioned off down the middle by bright green duck tape, which climbed up the wall. From the tone of the clothes, the furniture and the accessories, he could tell the left side was meant for boys.
His eyes ate up all the variety of styles, cuts, colors and textures. He forced his mind to come up with the most awesome outfit, pulling up images of ninja he saw walking on the streets, inside magazines at the bookstore and memories of whatever he saw his classmates wearing. By the time he was done, he had a heap of clothes in his arms high enough that he couldn't see past it. He just bolted it for a fitting room and got on with trying them all on.
Naruto went through the pieces one by one, putting a pair of pants and then searching around for a cool match, trying that on and seeing how it looked all together.
Green shorts and a yellow T-shirt looked too casual and wouldn't work for the colder months.
Blue sweatshirt which reached over his wrists and had a notch for his thumb and red nylon pants that pulled tight at his ankles with strings made him feel powerful in the colors but even he could tell that those two materials didn't go together.
White elbow length shirt and orange pants stripped on the side with blue made him look way too childish, like he was a kid in some kind of game, not a fully fledged warrior on the battlefield fighting for his village's honor.
With that imagery in mind he tossed aside a few of the pieces and grabbed another two articles of clothing, a matching set that caught his eye from the start.
It was a pair of jet black pants, made from a thick fabric and a tracksuit jacket of the same material, which had a thick piece of darker black wrap around the bicep and pass through a metal hoop only to hook on its fuzzy loop side. Both of them ended in darker sleeve cuffs.
He took a look in the mirror and he could tell this was it, this was the outfit. It brought out his blonde hair and emanated power and stealth and discipline, all the marks of an amazing ninja and a terrifying enemy.
Naruto set his feet apart and put his hands into the tiger seal. He then pretended he was punching someone. Then he moved as if he dodged a kunai just a few inches shy of his cheeks.
I look like a badass!
He changed back into his clothes, took a deep breath and did the gut wrenching task of looking at the price tag of the items. What he saw made his hand cover up his gaping mouth and then his feet fully unpeel off the ground, heels tapping into his behind.
He could afford it and have enough money leftover for bleach!
Naruto grabbed the tracksuit and left the fitting room as in wake of a hurricane, with dozens of clothes tossed on the little chair inside, some sloppily hanged on the hooks of the rack and most of them turned inside out.
He went to the checkout where a girl scanned his clothes, folding them and putting them inside a brown paper bag. He handed over the money, grabbed the bag and the change, waving at the woman who thanked him for the purchase.
Clutching the bag to his chest, Naruto bounced over to a big store where he was sure to find bleach. After he managed to gain enough mercy from the proprietor to get the money early, he didn't want to ruin it by not doing what he was told. That man was capable of anything if he didn't find the shower clean, including taking his brand new ninja clothes!
He climbed up the steps of the store and looked around until he found bleach. He paid and the lady at the checkout put the bottle in a white plastic bag. He placed the brown paper bag inside so he didn't need to carry two bags at the same time.
Naruto headed for the door and reached his leg to go down the first step when he heard a gasp behind him.
He turned his head only to see a woman with her hand on her chest, fingers spread apart, looking at him and his bag. "The demon is buying bleach?!…" she said in a high pitched voice.
Next he was flying down the three steps of the store, landing right in front, on his knees and the underside of his palm. The bag landed with a thump next to him. He blanked away tears and tried to get up, slapping away at his legs. He picked up his bag, glared over his shoulder at the woman and booked it down the dirt road.
Naruto stopped only when he saw Ramen Ichiraku and decided that some warm ramen could get the day back on track. He ducked under the flaps of cloth, greeted his favorite chef while tossing the bag against the stool and taking a seat.
He ordered his usual and started swinging his feet back and forth. His hands were grazed with tiny lines of red and burning, which matched the feeling in his knees. He rubbed his palms one at a time until the ramen bowl was placed in front of him, steam rising up and filling his nostrils.
He dug into this slice of heaven and by the time he ate everything inside and slurped the last drop, he'd forgotten all about what happened at the store. Looking at his hands, he didn't see a simple graze, he saw battle wounds that would make his ninja outfit even cooler when he wore it to the first day of the semester.
Smiling, Naruto paid for his meal and hopped off the stool. He bent to pick up the bag and when it was off the ground, he noticed it bend down with a curvature, stretching the creases straight and malleable when it hit his leg.
Bleach spilled inside!
He grabbed the bag to his chest, careful with the way he supported it and hurried up back home. He pushed the door back and barely closed it as he was already heading for the bathroom.
He tipped the bag over the sink until there was no more bleach inside. The bottle felt three times less heavy in his hands and there was a crack at about the halfway point. Sighing, he placed it on the floor. It seemed his hands and knees weren't the only ones bruised up by the fall.
Naruto covered his eyes with his hands, daring to look at the insides of the bag only through the cracks between his fingers. The paper bag was soggy and pulled apart at the edges only to reveal the new clothes he had bought.
Clothes which were now a bright orange.
He peeled away the pieces of paper which stuck to the clothes and grabbed the jacket and the pants each, turning them back and front. No square inch escaped, everything turned orange.
He crumpled up the clothes and booked it out of the apartment to the last door on his hallway, the public laundry room, which was already moaning with the sound of rotating machines.
Naruto tossed his clothes into the first empty washing machine he saw along with a heaping scoop of detergent, which he got off a shelf. He closed the door and slammed a few buttons which started the cycle. He crouched and looked through the glass at how the machine tossed his tracksuit and filled it water and bubbles.
He hoped and prayed this could fix whatever happened to his awesome ninja outfit. The clock on the washing machine read one hour, so he left it running and returned back to the apartment.
The adrenaline of the moment gone, a burning sensation digging into his palms overtook his senses. The grazes turned into deep red and the area around them became pink and puffy.
Naruto clenched his teeth together as he ran his hands under a jet of water and then rubbed them together, his whole palms tingling. When he felt like most of the bleach was gone, he turned the water off and dabbed his hands dry with a towel. He blew onto the wounds trying to tame down the pain.
The bottle on the floor was in his sight. How much longer would it be until the proprietor showed up? It was near sunset now, he shouldn't risk it.
He put on a pair of rubber gloves, which he usually wore to clean around the house, grabbed a sponge, which he doused in bleach, and get on rubbing away at the mold on his shower floor.
After his shower was squeaky clean, he went to count how much money he had left. Thankfully, he didn't dip into his savings for food and he had enough left to live out the next two weeks until he'd get the other half of his stipend.
Money tucked in back where it was supposed to, Naruto went to check on his clothes. The machine had finished its cycle, so he pried the door open and pulled out his tracksuit… which was still completely orange.
He sighed a long breath and clipped it straight on one of the clothing lines in the room, climbing up a chair so he could reach.
The rest of the evening was uneventful. The proprietor had come and was satisfied by his work. When he woke up next morning, first thing he did was check on his tracksuit, just praying that time would make the color revert back to how it was before.
When Naruto opened the door, his eyes jumped to his clothes, still hanging in all their orange glory. In a way, he declared this battle lost and he grabbed the now dry clothes.
Back into his bedroom, he tried them on again, putting an old white T-shirt underneath and zipping the jacket up to the very top. The outfit still fitted him well, the sleeve cuffs were still tight against his wrists and ankles and the way the material felt against his skin was just as good.
The tracksuit was virtually the same with the exception of the color.
Soon Naruto found himself in the morning of the first day dressed up just as he had planned. He put on blue ninja sandals, turned off the lights and left the apartment. Door locked, he swept the burlap string the key was hooked on around his neck, stuffing it behind his jacket so no one could see it.
And with that he set off towards the ninja academy.
The closer he got, the more he could feel a certain something in the air. The roads were rustling with people, some where clearly in a hurry, some were chatting up in groups and others were strolling around hand in hand with their child.
What had his classmates done during the holiday? Did anybody new join his class? What were they going to study this semester and how hard were the subjects? And most importantly, what was going to be his first big prank of the semester?
With all those thoughts jumbled in his head, Naruto reached the ninja academy where a huge group of people, students, parents and other ninja awaited in front of its doors. Parents were talking among each other with smiling faces and moving their hands about, sometimes pointing at the building and sometimes tousling their kid's hair. Other kids got together and laughed or chased each other or played games.
Naruto was alone watching the crowd.
He knew better than to approach them because the other kids would ridicule him for assuming that wearing some new clothes meant that he could hang out with them. Instead, he walked to a much familiar place, the swing by the great oak in front of the academy.
As he passed by, people looked at him, quick glances with emotions much lighter than what he grew up on: curiosity, surprise, appreciation.
Was this it? Did the outfit work? He was about to pat himself on the back, but everybody was dressed in clothes that matched what he saw at the store. They were top-notch, the clothes he bought were nothing special. If that was true, then why did this provoke a reaction out of them?
A loud clapping called everyone to attention and a voice said the opening ceremony was starting. People got in line and everyone listened to the Hokage's speech. Naruto was looking around for his classmates and checking out the crowd. And now as well, people gave him curious looks and sometimes even smiles. Sitting in the middle of it all, the answer became obvious to him: he was a splash of color on a muted color palette.
When the speech was over, the students were ushered towards their classes. He heard the gist of it, something about honor and strength and the village. The reactions he got out of people mattered more.
It wasn't just the kids. Once they were seated in class and Iruka went over the subjects of the semester, even he kept glimpsing at him. Not because he had disrupted the class or said something stupid, but simply for being there.
A new fire burst inside his chest for he believed what happened with the bleach was by no coincidence. From here on out Naruto loved his outfit for everything it was, especially the color.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed. If you're wondering if what happened with the tracksuit is plausible, the answer is yes.
The scientific explanation is this: "black has a lot of underlying pigments that when lifted will show. Starting from black, bleach will lift it to red, then red orange, then orange red, then orange, then orange yellow, then yellow, then pale yellow and then finally white." (Reddit)
Thank you for reading the story. Thank you for any reviews, positive or negative, they're all appreciated and very helpful.
Writing schedule is on my profile.
Have a nice day!