I do not own Naruto. "Sleep, Sleep", however, is mine.

Not Yet

Once upon a time, there was a little boy.

He didn't have parents, but that was okay, because he didn't know what parents were.

He didn't ever feel happy, or loved, or accepted, but that, too, was okay, because he didn't know what any of those were.

He lived by himself in an apartment, and once a week, the ruler of the village would come by and make sure he had food, and water. The ruler had to do this, because everyone in the village hated the little boy, and where more likely to poison him than anything else. The little boy didn't know his name, and never left his apartment.

But then, one day, the boy did leave. And he found out that no one liked him, but that was okay, because he thought that that was the way it was supposed to be.

Of course, the villagers had a reason for hating him. It was a stupid reason, they hated him for something that wasn't his fault. Though the boy didn't know, at birth the former leader of the village had sealed inside him a beast. A beast that had killed much of the village. Their leader, their beloved leader, had fallen to the beast, but the boy had survived. And in the boy, they saw the beast.

Eventually, he learned what all these things were and that it was just him that the village hated, and he only ever felt safe in his apartment, and even that, as an event when he was seven proved, was not safe, so he made one in his mind, and he went in, and that was the last anyone ever really saw of him for a great long while. There, he was content and peaceful, and the inside was furnished with information, and the outside with noise, pranks, and fake smiles.

And he retreated so far into himself that the noise and the pranks and the smiles took him over, and he let them. And nobody noticed, and nobody cared, but that's okay, because he didn't know they were supposed to.

The Beast, evil and wretched as he was, was not heartless. Not like the villagers, who hated and hated with a rage that was harsh and cold, but growing and burning like a forest fire. The boy was the subject of their hatred, and the Beast was the cause. So the Beast, deep in his mind, hummed and sang to him. A respite from the nightmare that was the boy's life, lulling him deep, deep into his mind;

"Sleep, sleep,

Dear child of no one

Sleep and dream

Of a world that will never be.

Sleep, sleep,

Dear child of no one,

And awaken

Only when you are wanted.

Sleep, sleep,

Dear child of no one,

And know,

They will never come for you.

Sleep, sleep,

Dear child of no one,

Here in the dark,

You can peacefully rest.

And there the boy stayed for a good long while.

"Sleep, sleep,

Dear child of no one,

Sleep and dream and know,

The world will not be better,

If ever you wake."

And did he ever come out?

"Sleep, sleep,

Dear child of no one,

Sleep and dream

Of what will never be."

Not yet.

"Sleep, sleep

Dear child of no one,

Wish and want

For what you will never have."