Love from Afar

Chapter One: October the Tenth

He ran away from the crowd of hate. His lungs ready to explode from the lack of air. Blue eyes were streaming with tears. Fear was clouding his mind as he almost made a turn to a dead end. Naruto later turned right into an alleyway. Climbed into an empty barrel, and placed the cover. Sounds of rage were heard outside as the mob passed by. The sounds subsided and he climbed back out. Naruto took a secure shortcut back home. There he climbed into bed, huddling in the corner.

He was tired of living like this… tired of loneliness surrounding him. He didn't understand this treatment, or the rage of the villagers that grows stronger on his birthday. Today was his eighth one. He laid down curling into a ball, and curled himself to sleep.

Naruto woke up to the feeling of intense heat and the smell of … burning. His eyes snapped open and saw his apartment was filled with smoke. The opposite corner, that housed the kitchen, was on fire. The front door next to him was untouched. Naruto ran to it and tried to open it, but something kept it jammed.

He spent minutes trying to open it, and ran to the window to find it boarded shut. He turned to screaming for help, but inhaled smoke in the process. He stood himself in the middle of the room far away from the fire. The door was beginning to engulf in flames. The lack of air made him less consciousness and dropped to the floor.

Naruto woke up coughing. Cool fresh air whipped past him with the occasional flicker of heat. A burning sensation was on his forehead, left cheek, and the left side of his abdomen.

"It's okay!" a man screamed. "He's breathing now!"

Naruto opened his eyes. He lay on the dirt ground with two figures looming overhead. And by the look of it, a crowd had gathered. To the right he saw the structure that was his home half burned and smoking. The fire had been put out.

"Are you okay?" the man asked him.

Naruto didn't have the strength to answer. He slowly felt the mind growing cloudy and he lost consciousness once again.