Disclaimer: I think it is pretty obvious that I do NOT own Naruto or any of its characters. If I did, I definitely would've treated them better.
Notes: Why is this story so much fun to write? And wow, those reviews, favorites, and follows came fast! Thank you so much. They made my day. Hanmac, well, aren't you in for a surprise? Or not. xD
Chapter Two:
Destiny Changes
It never fails.
For once in his life, he just wanted an easy day. A day that had no problems, but that was just wishful thinking on his part. The world had a habit of kicking him in the gut every chance it got. Even right now as he was was casually making his way down the bike lane since around at this time, most bikers weren't around. So, it was okay for him to be a bit fast, he was still careful and mindful of others even as he sped. Today, however, some asshole wanted to walk really slow across the street and the two almost hit one another. Luckily enough, Naruto managed to make it so that he did not hit the young man (or so he thought.). The screeching halt he made with his bike, only just a few inches away from the dark-haired boy, was enough to make him bare his teeth and squint his eyes in anger. "Hey, idiot, watch where you're goin'!" Little did he know, one of the the grocery bags had fell out the basket from his abrupt stop.
The boy he nearly collided with was apparently wearing headphones. Taking one of the black ear buds out of his ear, his onyx eyes turned to look at the irritated blond with a blank expression. His head then lowered down, his eyes slowly glancing at the grocery and some of its spilled contents. His eyes slowly shifted back towards the boy, almost as if to say 'You're lucky you didn't it me.' His mouth was a thin line just further proving he didn't seem the slightest bit at fault in this situation. This only infuriated the blond teen even more. "You asshole!" He barked.
"Dobe." replied the black-haired boy, crushing one of the ripe tomatoes at his feet with a stomp of his foot. He kept walking without the slightest bit of feeling guilty, placing his earbud back in his ear and letting the music fill his ears once again. The bike peddling boy gripped the handles of his bike tightly, trying to contain his anger. It wasn't worth the effort to run and punch that guy, even if he deserved it. He just didn't have the time for it.
He quickly put the unharmed tomatoes and other ingredients that could use a good cleaning into the brown grocery bag. He was glad that the other bag with the eggs hadn't fell out or he would've had to make a run back to the store.. He didn't just have money nor time to waste. Money was tight, and all the money he could afford to lose was to his mother's hospital bill. The woman deserved to live a long life and he was going to see to it. Climbing back onto his bike, he hurried his way down the street and took a right. He would have to drop off these ingredients soon before school started.
His dad was certainly on his ass about school even though Naruto hated it. He overall hated sitting in class and learning, which was probably why he wasn't doing so well when it came to academics. He just didn't care about it anymore. What has school ever did for him? Nothing. Besides, half the shit you learn doesn't apply later on in life, or so everyone says.
This morning was unreasonably cloudy. It only meant that the rain would roll in soon, which put a damper to his already sour mood. Spring was such a shady season. One minute it was sweet; all around nice and warm, and then suddenly rain would start pouring down like the sky watched the end of a drama. Sheesh, could he get one nice day with a breeze that felt so nice that he felt like he could live in the moment forever? That too much to ask, I guess.
The teen made a quick right, his feet going faster once he saw the ramen restaurant's sign. He screeched to a halt and locked the bike, taking the groceries and running in. "Pops? Hellooooooooo?" Maybe dad hadn't come home yet. He was always leaving the country, taking as many business deals as he could. The man was literally running himself ragged, but Naruto couldn't stop him since he took worked hard to keep his mother alive.
"Naruto, you made it back just in time. Put the things away, I'm to see your mother before I take that flight to Hong Kong." The tall, lean man in a blue business suit was Minato, Naruto's father. He had long, spiky hair that seemed to only grow down alongside his face and atop of his head. His bright, blue eyes looked clear today, which meant that maybe his father felt confident about his trip to Hong Kong. The man was only forty-one, but some days he looked like he was sixty-one from how hard he worked. He looked more like his age today, even with the bags underneath his eyes.
Naruto gave his dad a quick nod, "Alright, have a safe trip. And oh, tell mom I'm gonna visit her after school."
"Alright, and Naruto, please don't start trouble at school. Today is your last day at that place, so please don't act a fool." His father warned rather wearily as if he was through with this talk entirely. "Your mom really thinks this new school will be good for you, and I do too—"
"Yeah yeah, I heard ya. Go on and see mom. You know she probably misses ya since she couldn't see you last time before you left for America." He waved his father off, not wanting to hear another lecture about how school was important and blah blah blah. He heard it enough. Minato still managed to give his only child a smile before grabbing his briefcase off the counter and leaving through the restaurant's front doors.
It didn't take long after he put the food away for Naruto to shower and put on his school uniform. Since it was the last day, why waste the effort to look pristine? As if he ever did. He kept his shirt untucked from his pants, his tie was loose and relaxed. It wasn't much of a major difference, but teachers still shat themselves whenever students tried to add some sense of freedom in their uniforms. Naruto yawned before going back out, locking the doors to the house/restaurant and climbing back on his bike.
And there he went, gliding down the bike lane without so much of hurry. So what if he was late? He didn't care. Today was officially his last day. He was never going back to that crummy school again. That school filled with kids whose parents had something stuck up their asses, which was why their nose had no choice but to be up in the air.
"There's a fire! There's a fire!"
The panic-filled scream was enough to shake his heart. He looked at the building to his left that was covered with flames, rising towards the sky as large puffs of smoke was in the air. This was the job for the fire department. He couldn't put out a fire.
"Someone help! My husband is inside."
His head quickly turned to look towards the panicking, shaking old woman. Her eyes raining with tears as she clutched her chest as if she was about to have a heart attack. There was something about seeing people in need that really made his body move on its own. Without thinking for a second, Naruto rode his bike over and dropped it before dashing inside the burning home.. Immediately, smoke filled his nostrils as the blaring heat of flames licking the walls made him overwhelmingly warm. His eyes were stinging from the smoke and heat, but his blue eyes tried to remain open and alert for any sign of the old man.
His ears picked up on a series of coughs coming from the kitch. He could see a pile of wood shaking from obvious movement. Jumping over a hurdle of fire, he quickly removed the debris from the small man and lifted one arm around his shoulder. Finding a new route away from the fire hurdle and towards the door. Pieces of the burning building had fell in front of the door, attempting to block their way. He was already hacking up a lung from how much smoke was getting inside his body. He had to save this old man. He wasn't going to let him die in here.
With no other choice, he dashed his way through. The door was rammed open from the force of Naruto's shoulder, opening wide for them and getting them outside. He heaved heavily, leading the man towards his wife before lying down on his back a bit too quickly so he could inhale the fresh, outside air. Everyone was recording it with their phones, others looking concerned and scared. Why did people just watch tragedies happen? Why did the internet corrupt the world in some of the most cruelest ways? If he hadn't ran over here, this man would've—
"Move out of the way." A man's firm voice broke through the crowd, lightly shoving his way through towards the man and the young boy. "Kid, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm good. Just need some water." He replied rather dryly but still sporting a smile. The police officer, from what Naruto guessed he was, had whipped his head towards the ambulance, his black, shoulder-length hair following the movement of his head.
"Give the kid a breathing mask and some water. And you, take this man to the hospital asap!" He ordered another. "Everyone disperse. Is the man's family around here?"
"I-I'm his family." The older woman quickly shuffled over after previously sitting beside her husband, who was groaning and coughing every now and then.
"Naruto saved that man's life" "He's a hero!" "And we recorded the whole thing."
The blond could hear them, almost annoyed but yet also proud of himself that he had managed to save this man's life. Naruto did like basking in attention most of the time, but the fact that If he hadn't shown up, he knew that this woman would've lost her husband and her home made him unable to brag..
Unbeknownst to them, a certain girl was standing there looking down at the old man. Her head at a curious tilt, "Nanase, Ryuuji. Age 74; you were suppose to die." Her green eyes then looked towards the boy she had just helped from colliding with that other boy earlier. "Did I change your course when I helped him?"
"Kid, you sure you're alright?" The man further questioned.
"Yeah! I really need to head to school, so… I'll be goin'!" Naruto beamed. He did feel really refreshed after getting some oxygen and that cold bottle of water. That was a sure way to kick start his day as soon as he turned. He quickly ran towards where his bike laid.
The angel looked through her book, wondering if the man's destiny really did change. Death, which was written right under him minutes ago, was gone. He still had the status of being alive. She didn't notice the blond hair boy coming and right then, he passed right through her. Normally, angels and humans didn't feel anything when they passed through each other's body but—
The pink-haired girl dropped her book, breathing hitched "W-What was that?" She questioned, her a chest surging with tight discomfort. Immediately, she looked over her shoulder at that human boy. Why did their paths keep colliding today?
Parking his bike in the bike area of Hibike High, he looked up at the tall building. 'This is my last day in this hell hole.' He thought to himself. Naruto wanted to smile, he wanted to smile because he would be free of this place, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Not just yet. He had fun in this place, sometimes, but the bad times overrides the fun he had here. With his hands shoved in his pockets, he went to the entrance walkway and inside the building.
Everyone was practically in class and just about looking at their phones, watching the video of Naruto storming in the burning building and coming out with the old man. "Wow, he really did it!"
"He's so awesome!" Another girl cheered.
"How could he be so perfect?" One girl sighed dreamily.
Her friend gave her a rather nasty glare, "Don't you dare put your hands on him."
One girl, a brunette, approached the two, slapping a stack of money on the glaring girls desk. "Tell me if you need more."
"I heard you skipped class just to follow that boy around yesterday." The smirk on her face irritated the brown-haired girl.
"That's none of your business."
"How will you keep your first place rank in class if you keep acting like that?"
At that moment, Naruto had arrived into the classroom, pretending that he placed his phone in the cellphone bag. He used his wrist to wipe the light traces of sweat he gained from his heroic actions earlier and the bike ride he had to make here afterwards. Everyone in the class turned to look at him, the trio of girls greeting him with a smile as he made his way towards his desk. His desk was covered in what appeared to be varying sizes and colors of bentos. How did everyone discover he usually skipped breakfast was beyond him.
The overabundance of gifts, he was thankful for, but this was too much. He looked down at the boxes with mild disinterest and suddenly, the two out of the three girls that was speaking minutes prior came over to hand him some more. His head tilted back to look at them, slightly uncomfortable as he met the eyes of the brunette between the two.
Knowing what would be best, he grabbed all the boxes off his desk and placed them on top of the small lockers at the back of the class. "For everyone who hasn't had breakfast." He announced, mainly all the boys ran back there to get one. Naruto grinned at their eagerness before walking back to his desk as he heard the girls yelling at them for taking the bentos they hadn't made for them. He was okay if the girls were mad at him.
"To your seats!" The teacher had finally arrived in the room, seeing the mast storm of boys in the back trying to grab a bento. Naruto's bright grin never left his face as he teacher remained annoyed at how loud they just were.
The way this teacher taught class was usually him sleeping as the kids looked at the screen. He recorded his teaching, doing a whole math class on a pre-recorded video while they copied notes and solved the math problems from their desks. He wasn't sure why some teachers taught this way, but this was even more boring than regular class.
Naruto, as mischievous as ever, slowly pulled the cellular device from his pocket. He decided to have fun, it was his last day after all. Even so, that wouldn't stop him from what he was going to pull anyway. Using the cellphone's screen to deflect the light towards the teacher's sleeping face, the man shifted at the bright light.
The class was snickering at his discomforting, Naruto's sly grin etched completely across his face until finally the teacher grew angry enough and aware of what was happening. He immediately threw a marker towards Naruto's direction, but the boy had caught it was ease. That could already prove that Naruto was just about use to this, "Perfect throw, Kobayashi-sensei~"
Getting a high-five from another student, the class was already dispersed in a fit of laughter as the teacher smiled and shook his head. None of them had noticed the woman who had slid the classroom door open. She had long brown hair that reached the middle of her back, her nose pointed, and her head held high in air of arrogance more so than confidence. She was dressed to the nines; professionally anyway, with a button down white shirt, a grey blazer, and white skirt.
The click of her heels caught everyone's attention, her walk was quite mean and it immediately intimidated the teacher. Yet, that wasn't really the only reason why he felt intimidated by her. "Fuyu Oda's mother?" His eyes were as wide as dinner plates as the woman stopped walking, the brunette teen staring at her mother in disbelief and horror.
"Who is Naruto Uzumaki?" The woman immediately asked.
Every student turned in their seats to look at Naruto, who appeared rather surprised that the woman asked for him. Slowly, he rose from his seat, "Uh, I'm Naruto Uzumaki."
Looking the blond up and down, the woman walked over to him. The look in her eyes proved to Naruto that she was certainly unhappy, for what? He couldn't even guess. "Naruto Uzumaki…" Her eyes looked down towards the name tag attached to the boy's shirt. In but a second, the crack of skin on skin echoed through the classroom. In one smooth motion, Fuyu's mother had brought her hand across the young man's face, slapping him roughly.
"Mom!" The girl yelled, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
"How dare you seduce my daughter?" The woman's accusation flew out of her lips so quick that Naruto felt like he didn't hear her at first since he was still reeling in his from the shock of being slapped. His head was facing to the side, where her blow had thrown it. Naruto knew better than to hit a woman and so he settled for letting his fist ball up, his knuckles practically white, before sharply turning his head so that his blue eyes could throw daggers at her. "How in the world will my daughter go to college if she's too busy chasing you?! Will you take responsibility for her life? Kids like you only need to exist beneath my child so she can keep her high class ranking..."
Already, phones were pulled out to record the situation. Once again, Naruto was in the center of attention but not for heroic reasons like earlier. No, he was now being accused of seducing a girl who he was obviously beneath according to her mother. "Put your phones away! Tch, getting second phones… I'll confiscate them too!" The teacher yelled at the students.
"You should do better, sir." The older woman turned towards the teacher, still infuriated by her daughter's actions and the blond-haired boy. "You should never allow a kid like this around my daughter. He should know his place."
"Mom, please!" Her daughter yelled from across the room, clearly embarrassed about the woman's actions. "I was the one chasing after him. This is my fault, not his!"
Her words fell on deaf ears. Her mother was too stubborn to believe her daughter deserved any blame. The woman leaned closer towards Naruto, who was biting down on his lip to contain himself. "Wasn't it easy to seduce her since all she knows is how to study?"
Naruto had enough, "Listen, old hag!" He his head tilted in a defiant angle. "I didn't seduce her! Never even tried to. I'm not even interested in her."
The woman rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Kids without roots are always like this."
"What did you say?!" Naruto wouldn't allow this woman to disrespect his parents. She could say anything about him, but his mother and father were out of the equation.
The woman ignored him, her eyes boring holes in her child. "Do you think I hired those expensive tutors to so you can end up selling ramen?" Looking back at Naruto, her bony finger pushed the boy's shoulder in an antagonizing fashion, "If you ever try to seduce my daughter again, I won't let that slide."
Fuyu stormed out of the classroom, her face red from the whole situation. Naruto looked at the girl's retreating form before glaring at the woman. "At least Fuyu isn't like her asshole mother."
The woman gasped, "What? Excuse me. Do you know who I am?!"
The teacher, who hadn't stepped in and watched the scene in stale shock spoke up to the students once more. "I said put your phones away!"
"I'll be expecting you to do better sir." The woman warned the teacher for a second time as if to make sure that he paid heed to her.
Giving Naruto a sour once-over, she quickly turned to leave the room. Naruto continued to stand at his desk, his blood boiling. He continued to try his best to keep his anger in, but how dare that woman? The teacher raised his finger, pointing at him accusingly. "In my office, now."
"I didn't even do anything!" Naruto spoke up, defending himself.
"Now." His voice was much sterner this time, "Everyone else, self-study." Naruto followed the teacher out of the classroom, his hands sheathed in his pockets as a frown adorned his face. As they made their way in the staircase, before Naruto took on step down, he had heard the roof door close. His head immediately tilted back, looking up to make sure he heard right.
::
It wasn't out of the norm for her to be here. Lounging on a wooden table, watching one of the many tv screens in this large store. This was the only way she could watch her dramas in peace, well, sometimes it was in peace.. Her green eyes focused one screen in particular, this was a new drama that she actually liked. Her smiling face then turned sour as the store manager was showing a young couple of the new plasma tvs.
Getting to her feet, she stood on the table to get a better view of the television, but she was having a hard time seeing past the humans. Growing frustrated, she stomped her right foot. "Why do you like watching the dramas of humans?"
The voice didn't startle her. It was a familiar voice, which made her look to her her left at them and then settle for sitting back down now that the couple was out of the way. Walking up towards her was a young man with a mop of mousy, red hair on his head. His grayish-brown eyes never left the female angel's form, "They have the same story line, and the only difference is the humans in them." He continued, his book in his hand. "What are you so curious about?"
Her pink hair flowed with her movement, her head tilting as her emerald eyes gazed at the screen. She was silent, letting it linger for a few minutes before she answered his question. "I'm curious… of what it means to be happy, what it means to be hurt, and…" Her eyes slightly squinted in her confusion, "What it means to love." Her petite hands gripped onto the table as she sat, "Why do humans love although they know that it'll eventually end…? Why do humans live although they know they'll eventually die?" She then raised one hand and pointed to the tv, a smile stretching across her face. "These dramas usually answer those questions."
His face remained expressionless but the glowing of his book had caught his attention. He was already annoyed. "One thing that's certain is that humans never let us rest."
"Good luck!" She said to him, never letting her eyes leave the screen.
The male angel rose a brow, "Stop paying so much attention to humans and focus on your duties."
"Fine, fine." Her huff but inability to train her eyes away from the drama made the corner of his lips twitch upwards. Shaking his head, he turned away and disappeared in the portal of white dust.
The pink-haired girl eyes grew wide when the man pulled the woman close, in the background was waves crashing against the shore as the moonlight bathed them at the beach. His lips crashed so fiercely onto the woman's to convey his feelings that he so passionately spoke about minutes ago. The angel stood on the table, her hands pressed against her face. "He did it!" She cheered as the woman looked surprised within the kiss.
Before she could celebrate and hear the full-out confession, her book was glowing this time around. Looking at her book and then at the drama, the uneasiness of missing the rest of the romance was evident on her features. Chewing on her bottom lip, she looked back at the glowing book. "It's the climax right now!" She yelled, "Damn these humans…" She mumbled, knowing she couldn't shake away from her job.
Jumping down from the table, her hands lifted up the heavy book and pried it open. The pages quickly turned to the page and then a picture of a teenage girl popped up: Oda, Fuyu. Female, Age 17.
Just in the nick of time, Naruto came running. Out of breath as he called her name, "Fuyu! What the hell are you doing?!"
"Huh? You again?" The angel said, knowing very well that neither of them could hear her. Her face watched etched in confusion, wondering why this was her third time seeing this boy today.
Slowly, Fuyu turned with tear eyes towards Naruto. "This isn't my first time up here." Tears were already streaming down one by one, her sniffling ringing in his ears now. "I always come up here when I am frustrated and don't want to see my mom. I hate my mother!" She cried, whimpers escaping her throat. "And I hate myself even more. She's always controlling my life, I'll never be free of her! If it's not my dad, if it's not volleyball and being forced into ballet. She's acting like my life is hers, and it's not fair!"
Trying to come up with a quick solution, Naruto immediately ran towards the ledge and climbed up. Reaching his hand out towards her, the girl looked at him in surprise. "Let's die together then. Grab my hand."
"N-Naruto…" Fuyu shook her head madly, tears still pouring as it began to rain. If she jumped, she would surely die. She knew that much. Then it would be a quick death. A sweet escape. Maybe then her soul would be free and away from her mother's tight clutches.
Rolling her eyes, the angel shook her head. "Are you filming a drama right now? Tch, I'm on a tight schedule."
The roof door quickly opened, Fuyu's mother and the teacher were now on the roof with them. The whole class followed along as well, gasping at the scene. "I'm going to jump, Naruto. I'm going to jump, and you can't stop me!" Her yell pierced the area, weighing the air around them with thick, uncomfortable tension. Every bellow in her voice let them know that she was clearly pain.
"Fuyu, please get down! I'm sorry! I'm sorry sorry, please come down from there! D-Don't jump!" The woman cried, Naruto could see that deep down the woman did actually care about Fuyu. Her love was just clearly misguided. He still hated her, that hadn't changed upon the slight realization.
On the side of the roof, the pink-haired girl continued to watch curiously (and angrily) at the scene. Everyone was coaxing the young brunette not to jump, the boy clearly worried that she actually would. Suicide was a common death in Japan; frighteningly so. The angel never understood why humans chose to end their lives in such a painful way, but if she remembered anything from dramas, they felt suicide was a choice that was their own when they felt like they had none. And clearly, this girl thought this was the right and only choice.
Her eyes widened a fraction upon seeing the boy climb the ledge, people gasping with their phones out recording the scene before them. The teacher looked like he was going to die right then and there. You would've thought that this angel came for him instead. With her book behind her in her hands, she walked on the ledge with the greatest of balance. Angels really had some perks.
Naruto glanced down below them, swallowing a huge gulp of his own spit before looking at her as she stared at his hand. "I-I'm ready, are you?"
Shaking her head once more, she took a step back on the ledge to move away from him. A roar of thunder erupted, a crackle of lightning light up in the sky as rain began to pour. Naruto knew it was going to storm today, but the timing was just awful right now.
Sakura's book began to glow, she quickly opened the book as the page of Fuyu began to glitch. Her picture and Naruto's were merging, going out of control and making the book shake within Sakura's grasp. "What? It was Fuyu. What's going on? What's wrong with this?" She questioned, her arms shaking around along with the book. What's wrong with the damn—oops!"
The book fell from her grasp and down the building, but with a snap of her fingers. She was now sitting atop of the car and the book landed right in her hands. Opening the book and going back to the page, she noticed that the two faces were still glitching.
Fuyu was distracted by the sky, the lighting making her scared stiff. Naruto seized the opportunity and pulled her off the ledge and onto the roof floor but during his actions, foot slipped and he was the one to fall down the roof.
Sakura had slowly gazed up upon hearing the yell,, seeing the boy falling feet first in her direction. It was as soon as she noticed, it was too late, he was going to crash right onto her. Lying flat on the car, her hands created a barrier between them; a blue, fluorescent shield appeared between them. Naruto's wide eyes stared into hers, who were gazing back at him the same scared confusion.
'He can see me?' She immediately thought in fear. Her book, which she was just holding in her hands second ago, was on the ground with the picture of Naruto took place instead of Fuyu's. However, the book magically disintegrated and a bright, burning light erupted between the barrier.
When it finally dispersed, Naruto laid on top of Sakura. Both of them unconscious on top of the white car.
ANotes: Sasori as an angel? Crazy right? But I felt he would fit that role. Also, I'm having a hard time who could be a bully. Who do you guys think can play that role really well? I mean beating smart kids kinda bully too.