"talking"

'thinking'

Passionate feelings/memories

Naze?

Why?

A small boy, not yet six, ran through the streets of Konohagakure with a mischievous smile plastered onto his small, cherub-like face. His spindly little legs pounded against Konoha's golden-hued streets as he fought exhaustion to escape capture. Bright cerulean eyes excitedly glanced around a corner. Seeing that the street was clear of any pursuers, he sped down it, his wild mop of blond hair easily recognizable amidst the mass of dark-haired Konoha villagers. The boy's flight drew many glares and angry curses from the villagers walking along the busy street as he frantically ducked in and out of their legs…until they saw the boy's face. Upon discovering his identity, formerly angry villagers would swiftly turn their heel and continue walking towards their intended destination as if nothing had happened.

Despite this, Naruto Uzumaki appeared to be having the time of his life; yet, deep within his mind, even as he let out uproarious laughter at the genius of his most recent escapade, he was asking questions of himself that no child should ever have to consider. These thoughts, however, were not thoughts in real time. They weren't even coherent. Even in his memories, the thoughts he expressed were those of a person hardened by abuse. Instead, they were the innate feelings that had been imprinted upon his young mind by a lifetime of loneliness. Naruto the child refused to acknowledge this with the same vivacity as the villagers refused to acknowledge him. He knew deep down that there would come a time when he would have to recognize the fact that he would never have a real childhood. The mask he wore now was gradually fading. It might take years, but eventually Naruto would recognize the fact that he had never been and never would be a child. But that meant giving up on happiness with other people and Naruto loathed to do such a thing. The joy other children his age seemed to feel was too powerful to resist. He had to have that love…that acknowledgement.

At any rate, these thoughts were far away from the boy's attention now. Instead, another feeling stood at the forefront of his thoughts as he scurried across the streets:

Why?

Yes…why? It was always why. While he never thought to actually ask someone of this, his childish curiosity churned with restless energy as to why he was forced to endure the things he did. At first, he thought it a common thing for children to be alone and ignored. But as he watched others his age laughing and playing with the very same people who disregarded him, he could not help but grow curious. As time wore on, a new emotion emerged within its mind: anger. Anger at not knowing, anger at the reality of life, and most of all, anger at being alone. Oh how he would give for someone to talk to, laugh with, even argue with. Maybe that was why he pulled the pranks. At least this way people actually acknowledged his existence. Hell, before that incident a year ago, he would have been happy if they beat him up.

Another feeling suddenly appeared as he swerved around a cart: I do have one companion, one proof that I exist…those eyes.

Yes, the eyes were always there, looking down at him in a disgusted and scornful glare. They might be blue or brown, large or small, wide or squinted…but whenever the eyes of another were turned upon him, they were all the same. They ignored him, past him buy as he raced through the street…some of them even disregarded his presence when he ran into them while being chased. None of them, however, could help casting those hateful eyes upon him. They followed him everywhere, even when he was trying to make friends with the other kids at the park.

'The park,' he thought to himself as he sprinted around another corner. That place was the reason he was in his current predicament. It was that day that had changed him forever. The memory flooded back to him with the force of a raging river:

Tears flew to the ground and exploded in a bright shower of water and light. The reflection of an old sandal appeared in the reflection of the liquid for a moment before quickly fading away into the distance.

Naruto was running through the forest with no idea or care where he ended up. Large welts pulsated furiously all across his body. It had been like any other miserable day. He pulled a few pranks, ran around laughing like an idiot so the villagers would notice him, then started the cycle over again. But today had been different. Today, Naruto had found Ichiraku's closed again. He hadn't seen the old man or his daughter for a few weeks now. They probably had no idea how important they were to him, but he had already started forgetting about him. What was the point of grieving over people who'd probably never cared about him in the first place?

Sorely needing food, Naruto had gone to a barbeque place. He had had to go to a different restaurant each time so that the owners wouldn't think they were "aiding" him too much. At least, that's what he thought the reason was. The owners of said restaurants, even as he was paying money for their food, acted as if he wasn't there. It was money from the Hokage himself. Wasn't that proof enough that he deserved some attention? Nevertheless, he had always gotten something to eat.

This owner, however, had completely ignored Naruto's attempts at purchasing food. At that moment, the boy lost it and began furiously screaming at the man . He had picked up a rock just outside and launched it into the glass container holding samples of the meat. The owner and several of his employees, enraged at Naruto, had managed to grab him and hold him down. They then proceeded to punch him over and over again. Naruto had never been subjected to any such treatment before and had screamed out in terror. The group abruptly halted their attack, horror evident upon their faces as they realized what they had done. They then quickly and anxiously returned to the restaurant, grim acceptance weighing their faces down. It was then that Naruto, after miraculously recovering from the wounds dealt him, had fled. He had run and run and run...just to escape the hell of his existence. For the first time in his life, Naruto considered suicide. Just to fade away forever…to drift slowly away in oblivion. Naruto stopped himself and leaned against the firm bark of a sturdy old tree. Glancing around the forest floor, he spotted a sharp looking rock near the edge of the park. Yes, he would do it. And then, when they realized that they had been the cause of the death of an innocent child, they would finally understand his pain and they would weep for him.

And so, Naruto slowly ambled towards the stone, his mind filled with thoughts of people remembering him and acknowledging him. The forest was deathly silent as if frozen in apprehension of the deed to be done. Suddenly, a sound broke through the silence, causing Naruto to swerve his towards the park from whence it came. There, just a few yards in front of him, was a girl with the prettiest pink hair he'd ever seen. Of course, he'd never seen pink hair before but that didn't make it any less interesting or alluring. The rays of the sun gently flowed past the leaves of the forest and onto the girl, radiating her entire being in light. His hatred for his life forgotten, Naruto could not help but make his way over towards her. Before he could realize what he was doing, he was standing right beside her, breathing in the slight scent of cherry blossoms wafting off of her innocent red dress. It was then that he noticed her hunched over and shaking body. Curious, Naruto reached out his small hand and gentle nudged her with his finger. In an instant she swerved around, her face scrunched up in fear. Her beautiful jade eyes sparkled magnificently with tears, but were underscored by a pitiful red puffiness. Her lower lip quivered in anticipation of further misery, but Naruto quickly raised his hands to prevent her from crying. He hated seeing other people cry. Not only did it annoy him that others would think their suffering was worth sobbing over when there were others far worse off (namely himself), it also made him feel sad despite the lack of contact he had with others in his life.

Naruto waited for her to relax her cowering form before cautiously asking, "Why are you crying?"

The little girl's expression gradually began changing from one of fear into one of curiosity. After a moment's pause, she asked, "W-why do you care?"

In a rare moment, Naruto was at a loss for words. He had no idea why he'd approached the girl, let alone offer to comfort her. What if she ignored him like all the others? But as he stared into her eyes and gazed upon her small, curious face, memories of the loneliness of his entire life rushed through his head. Resolve began burning within him and he said with heroic conviction (all while striking the bravest pose he could pull off in his worn down orange clothes), "Because I hate to see other people sad! The birds are chirping, the sun is shining…you should be running around having the time of life! Come on, I've got some great ideas for what we can do. There's this one guy who's got a—

Before he could finish his speech, however, a frightened voice cried out, "SAKURA!"

The little girl turned at the yell and happily exclaimed, "Okaasan!"

"Eh?"

The girl smiled and replied, "That's my Okaasan! I'd better—oh wait! I forgot to give you my name. Well," she gave a short bow and then abruptly stood up with a bright smile, stating, "My name's Haruno Sakura. Nice to meet you…"

Naruto stared at her for a moment, not understanding why her voice trailed off at the end. Sakura suddenly gave an exasperated sigh in a manner that suggested Naruto was a lost cause and asked, "What's your name?"

Scratching his cheek sheepishly, he quickly responded, "My name's Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto."

Smiling again, Sakura finished her hanging greeting, "Nice to meet you Naruto."

Her face unexpectedly became serious and, casting her eyes to the ground while shyly resting her left foot behind her right, said, "T-thanks for trying to cheer me up. I-I—"

Seeing her lip begin to quiver again, Naruto hurriedly cut in, "Hey, no problem! You were actually doing me a favor. I really don't get to…um, play with other kids and well—"

A very long shadow darkened the area around Naruto, immediately freezing him in shock. Quickly staring upwards, he saw a very tall (for him at least) peach-haired woman forcefully lifting up Sakura and carrying her away.

Before Naruto could panic, Sakura squealed indignantly, "Okaasan!"

Sighing in relief that the woman was not a stranger, Naruto began to turn away, content with the time he spent with Sakura. Suddenly he heard Sakura's light voice call out, "Bye Naruto! Hope you to see you at the Ninja Academy next year!"

Naruto swerved around to see Sakura waving cheerfully back at him, whilst her mother stared at her in incredulity. In an instant Sakura's mother was shooting Naruto one of the most vicious glares he had ever seen, as if daring him to wave back. He would have been very happy to run away from her at that point if it had not been for the hurt expression that was slowly beginning to take shape on Sakura's face. Again, Naruto felt resolve empower his body. He would not give in to them this time and he would certainly not lose the only friend he had ever had. Staring defiantly back at the Sakura's mother, Naruto yelled out, "SEE YOU SAKURA! AND I WILL BE AT THE ACADEMY!"

While Sakura beamed at him, her mother's glare had turned into a murderous snarl, which was enough to send Naruto scampering back through the park as fast as his legs could carry him.

As he was fleeing (fleeing in victory, he assured himself), he pondered over Sakura's words. He had always been pretty quick when it came to understanding foreign and confusing concepts (he had taught himself to read by stealing books from the vendors after all), but Sakura's mention of the Ninja Academy was different. It flew straight in the face of one of the few laws Naruto was aware of: one had to be at least eight years old to enter the Ninja Academy and must graduate by age twelve to become a Genin. In a year, Naruto guessed that she would, like him, be around six. Legally, it was impossible for her to enter the Academy. She could be one of those "geniuses" that were granted early access to a ninja education, but he found that to be highly unlikely given the wretched manner in which he found her.

Before he could find a solution to his question, another problem presented itself: Naruto didn't want to become a ninja. He understood the benefits of attaining such incredible powers, but he had seen firsthand the fates of those shinobi who had been wounded during the last Great War. How couldn't he? He saw them in his part of the town all the time, stuck into a cheap home by the Council so they could die without bothering anybody. While Konoha was renowned for its emphasis on teamwork and the compassion of the Sandaime Hokage, it was a shinobi village at heart; meaning, it had no use for broken tools. Naruto knew what it felt like to be ignored…to be tossed aside like an old toy.

No, Naruto did not want to become a ninja… the risks were too high. Why should he do it because some girl was going there as well?

Images of his Sakura's brilliant smile entered his head, filling him with an unknown sensation in side his chest. How could he, in good conscience, be the cause of breaking that smile?

As Naruto continued to debate with himself, he abruptly tripped over a brand new looking scroll. Naruto stood up so quickly so as to get home before nighttime that he nearly missed the bold letters scrawled ever so rigidly upon the scroll's body. The proud black print almost forced him to take a glance and when he did, terrible understanding crushed down upon him:

WAR WITH KUMO!

LET THE FIRE OF KONOHA LEAD THE WAY TO VICTORY!

Sandaime Hokage refuses to give in to unjust demands

All children ages six to eight will immediately be conscripted into Ninja Academy—

Naruto stopped reading. That was it. His life had just been laid out before him and he had no say in it. During peacetime, he was fairly certain that most of Konoha would have been avidly opposed to his becoming a ninja had he the desire to. Wartime was an entirely different matter. It was much more likely for a Genin, no matter how strict wartime training was, to get killed or seriously wounded in war. He could hear the celebrations now as word of his death spread around Konoha like a wildfire.

'No, no, no, no, NO! They will not have me…they will not own my life. They think they can make me a shinobi? Fine, if they want me to be one of their little soldiers so bad then I'll give them one: I'll become Jounin, no Anbu! No wait…Hokage. Yes, that'll shut 'em up for good! And then, when I have that hat in my hands and the crowd's looking at me with awe and respect in their eyes…I'll refuse the pos—', he abruptly stopped as a new feeling emerged within him.

'Heh', he had thought sadly, no I won't. If someone offered me the title of Hokage right now, I'd probably take it and do as best I could to fulfill my duties, just for the recognition it would give me. How noble of me…'

'But then again,' he continued relentlessly, 'if I don't do anything and waste away my life like this, they'd win and for some unholy reason I cannot allow that to happen. By becoming the exact opposite of what they think I am, I can't help but earn their respect…right? Ah what the hell, not like I have choice. Besides, Sakura will be there and I would die before I'd let her get killed in some dumbass war. How could I? She smiled at me, she waved to me, she acknowledged me and she pulled me out of myself without even trying. I have to do my best protect her and help her become strong enough so she won't ever have to cry again…so she can brighten everyone's life with that smile of hers. I think I can do really well as ninja, but I can't let anyone else know that. Not even Sakura. Best to play it dumb and keep on with the pranks…don't want the Council prying into my affairs. From the way everyone looks at me it's as if they think I'm some dangerous beast. No need to give them any proof. Just play it cool Naruto…or in this case, play it as hot-tempered, obnoxious, and stupid as you can.'

And so, Naruto had planned and pranked his way into infamy for a year in anticipation of his induction into the Ninja Academy. It was all towards securing a spot as one of the weakest and most foolish ninja in Konoha. To do that, he would have to make an entrance no one would be able to forget. That was why he had pulled this last prank. The villagers chasing him into the classroom would add a nice touch as he burst into the classroom late and panting. He hadn't left himself must choice, after all. Dousing an entire street of vendors with paint-filled water balloons tended to arouse…passionate emotions.

Needless to say, Naruto was hard-pressed to stay ahead of the mob. His breath came in shallow wheezes as he rounded the final corner onto the street leading to the Academy.

"Ah hell," he whispered to himself with a faint, humorless smile on his face as his chest burned in agony, "gettin' a little tired."

Coincidentally, this was also the point that he realized a flaw in his plans. The Ninja Academy was separated from the rest of the village buildings by a small, empty path. Though there was a fenced off area and several other objects surrounding, little else occupied the space of this path, including villagers. For Naruto, this was a huge problem, as the only way he had been able to stay ahead of the mob chasing him was to duck through the large morning crowds of Konoha with his tiny body. With no one to act as an obstacle, Naruto's once helpful size was now a severe detriment to his escape.

Naruto knew he had no chance of outrunning the villagers, but that was what made it fun. And it was very fun to see those imbeciles waddling after him like pigs…until he tripped over a small rock and was sent tumbling across the ground.

The villagers were on him in seconds, screaming at him in lungs that Naruto was sure were enhanced by the gods. Then the kicks started coming. The only human contact Naruto ever remembered having had was that of the restaurant owner a year ago and that had nearly caused him to commit suicide. This…this was far worse. At least the restaurant owner had realized the horror of what he was doing. These people—these villagers of the kind and friendly Konoha—were purposefully beating on him with every ounce of hatred in their bones.

Naruto quickly sank back into the depression that plagued a year ago. But as the beating continued, he began to feel something else. A kick landed squarely on his ribs and the feeling grew. A fist pounded into his head and the feeling, now a brightly burning fire, began to spread throughout his entire being. And the pain…it was like putrid blanket that covered his body. Blood popped out of his skin with every blow and he could hear his bones crack under the strain of the pressure. But with every blow, the fire inside of him grew stronger and fiercer until it burned its way into his head. He screamed…and that was all. He could nothing.

A familiar voice suddenly sounded throughout his head, Helpless…weak…that's all that I am. I am nothing and I will always— no. No, no, NO! I HATE THEM! I WANT THEM TO BURN…I WANT THEM ALL TO BURN FOREVER IN THE FIRES OF MY WRATH!

Power surged through him, but before Naruto could comprehend what was happening, the pain abruptly disappeared. In its place was a reassuring hand on his shoulder and kind voice whispering, "Hey…hey kid! Are you alright?"

Naruto ventured a cautious peek at the source of the hand and was relieved to see the mob gone. The hand gently holding his shoulder belonged to a Chuunin with a strange scar across his nose and a pineapple ponytail haircut.

Giving Naruto a once over, he asked with a hint of sadness in his voice, "Uzumaki Naruto, right?"

He nodded hurriedly to which the Chuunin sighed, his downcast in what appeared to be shame. In a moment he looked back into Naruto's eyes with a bright smile and said, "Umino Iruka, instructor at the Ninja Academy. The Hokage wanted me to make sure you got here okay, but…" he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "I guess I was a little late."

Naruto scowled viciously, "Yeah, just a little late. Did you see what they did to me? I mean, look…at…me—what the hell?!"

To Naruto's great confusion, and slight consternation, his entire body was as clean and wound-free as it had been the day he was born (not that he knew what he looked like on the day he was born). He started when he felt a sharp tap on his forehead. Staring up angrily, he was slightly surprised to see Iruka's perturbed face hovering over him.

Before he could react, the Chuunin stated irritably, "And exactly why was a mob chasing you after class started?"

'That was a rapid change,' Naruto thought, his mouth slightly ajar.

Apparently, Naruto's agape mouth was enough of an answer for the teacher, as the boy soon found himself being dragged into the Academy, past the awkward-looking mob members, and into the classroom. Naruto briefly spotted Sakura, her brilliant emerald eyes brimming with worry, and gave a half-hearted wave. The class, misinterpreting the gesture as being directed towards them, burst into raucous laughter.

Naruto couldn't help but smile as well, 'Maybe this won't be as hard as I thought.'