Rewrite: DD/MM/YY-30/05/17 01:44

『君必要しない』

"Ssh... Maybe she's cursed."

"Didn't you hear? Her mother died giving birth to her, and that man killed her father. None of her relatives wanted to take such an ugly baby in... She's lived here ever since."

"Ahh, how terrifying..."

Uzumaki Naruto pays them no mind.

She hears this kind of chatter all the time. It was a lot easier to ignore it than to put up with them. After all, it was just another problem on her very long list of things that troubled her.

A lot has changed in the past few years. She's moved out of the orphanage and was even lucky enough to be taken into foster care by a man with stern eyes and very long hair; he's an Uchiha, an extremely rich family that was very close knit.

Naruto was kind of afraid to talk to him, but she was afraid to talk to anyone at this point so it was irrelevant. Though, he didn't talk to her much either. He was a quiet person. Which is good.

She wonders if things are supposed to be different now. The family who is taking care of her until the adoption process runs through isn't a very big one, but it's more than Naruto's ever had.

There's a mother and a father and two boys who are older than her, but she still feels lonely and out of place. Maybe those things were just a part of her now. What does it feel like to belong?

Her crystal blue eyes curiously stare across the room and then straight out the window; the bedroom she's sleeping in at the moment is a shared one, the child who shared the room with her was very close to her age. He's a year older than her, but he didn't seem to mind sharing the bed.

Or if he did, she really didn't notice.

She hasn't been paying much attention.

He peaks out at her, annoyed by her constant staring. Mother hasn't been happy with her recently, as she would much rather call the woman 'Mikoto-san' instead of anything else. They want her to feel like she's part of the family, but she refuses to use terms like mom or dad or even brother!

He narrows his eyes at her curled up form. Doesn't she want to be part of this family? If so, why doesn't she act like it? It was no wonder Mikoto got so upset with her. It didn't matter how little she was.

Naruto keeps to herself a lot.

In the morning Mikoto tries to get her to say 'Mommy.' Mikoto had always wanted a daughter, but Naruto acted so distant that it felt like she wasn't even trying sometimes. Her oldest child, Itachi, is in middle school.

He eats fast and kisses his mother goodbye before he leaves, running off with his friends from school without another word. The youngest son says 'Thank you, mom.' before he eats. Sasuke eats a lot slower than Itachi did, savoring his food since he's not in a rush.

Naruto keeps quiet as she eats, picking and choosing at certain parts of the breakfast and then finally pushing the plate away once it's half empty. She'll come back to it later when she's the only one in the room.

Mikoto sighs. "Are you going to eat it later again?"

The blonde girl nods, watching silently as the woman covers it with plastic and puts it away for later. "It's been a week, Naruto. This is your family now, you need to start addressing us as such."

Naruto doesn't reply, and instead stares at the floorboards. It's almost as if she's zoning out, but really she's just trying ignore them. Sasuke stands and brings his dish to his mother, holding it out for her to take it and kissing her much like Itachi did. Yes, if only Naruto acted like Sasuke.

The woman sighs, putting a hand on her six year old's head. "Thank you Sasuke."

Mikoto works at home. She cares for her children, cleans, and cooks for her family. While her oldest son is away at school and her husband is away at work, she has plenty of time to take Sasuke out or tidy up the house. Naruto prefers to go off by herself.

People talk about her a lot.

The people in the Uchiha compound, that is.

They talk about how misbehaved she is, where they think she came from, or even how she's cursed. Rumors spread and so everyone avoids her like the plaque.

Naruto tells herself that she couldn't care less.

She doesn't need friends.

Or family.

She has herself, and that's all she needs.

Somehow sitting by the river all day and throwing rocks to make the surface ripple has become a habit. Naruto will sit outside all day, watching the clouds or throwing rocks. The only thing that reminds her to come home is Itachi, who walks past her on his way home from school.

He'll stand at the top of the hill with his blue book bag slung over his shoulder as he calls out to her. "Naruto," He'll use her name; he won't call her sister or brother or anything like that, and for that she is grateful. "It's time to come home."

Her stagnant blue eyes will shift towards him and hold their gaze for a minute, almost as if they expect him to walk away and leave her behind. He's used to her behavior. He sighs and holds a hand out to her, waiting patiently for her to take it.

"Aren't you coming?"

The four year old runs up the hill and takes his hand. It's warm. Naruto always enjoys the moments she spends with the quiet older brother. When they get home, Naruto will let go of his hand and follow five paces behind him to avoid questions.

"Do you not like mother?"

"She loves you very much."

Naruto doesn't reply. She doesn't understand why he's still talking to her; isn't it obvious? She's not a part of the family yet, she's still just a foster child. The chances of adoption are amazingly low, so it will only hurt more if Naruto gets attached and then torn away and given to another family.

Calling Mikoto mom, Itachi and Sasuke brother, or even calling Fugaku dad; would have to wait until she's been officially adopted.

When they reach the house, the oldest holds the door open for her while she ducks underneath his arm to get inside. They both take their shoes off, but only one of them says, 'I'm home.'

Naruto heads straight for her room while Itachi goes to tell his mother about his day.

Tomorrow, the day repeats itself.

Naruto only eats half of her breakfast before escaping, Mikoto yells at her for not treating them ltachi dismisses himself as fast as possible. Once again, Naruto heads for the lake as soon as she can.

It's clear the woman is getting tired of her.

It's not hard to see, or hear for that matter. Naruto can hear it in her voice when she's talking on the phone to her husband; Mikoto complains about things that she clearly doesn't understand. "She won't even call me 'mom.' It's awful.

"You just have to keep trying, it's only been a month. She's only four."

"I don't even think she sees us as a family. It's awful! She'll only eat a small portion of her meal because she doesn't like eating with us!" Mikoto will sigh and run a very frustrated hand through her hair and say something like; "You just don't understand. You're never home."

"I'm sure things will get better."

He's wrong.

Naruto's been having problems sleeping with Sasuke. He tells her she can't sleep with him until she calls him her brother, so Naruto packs up and leaves. She finds her favorite corner in the living room, and stays there until morning.

Mikoto makes breakfast and Itachi is the first to go, like always. Sasuke pushes his food around with his fork and Mikoto doesn't smile or proclaim her love for them all today.

The day only gets worse.

"I'm not your daughter!" These are the first words that escape Naruto's mouth when Mikoto tells Sasuke to ask Naruto if she wanted to join them at the park today. Sasuke had started to cry, and Mikoto had slapped the child straight across the ace.

Naruto holds her stinging cheek, but doesn't dare cry.

Sasuke looks down on her. "If you don't wanna be my sister than you should leave!"

Mikoto picks her red-faced son up and leaves the room in a hurry, cellphone in hand and number already dialed.

Fugaku is on the other end.

"Isn't this enough?" She asks her husband, still holding her youngest son tight to her chest. Right now she could care less that Naruto was clearly listening to them from the other room. "Just how much do I have to put up with?"

"I know we're doing this for Minato and Kushina, but it's just... She's just so awful."

"We need to take her back, I can't do this anymore. She doesn't want to be a part of her family, so we should just take her back."

Naruto puts her hands over her ears and tries to block out the noise.

Why is this her fault?

After only spending five months with the Uchiha family, they no longer desire to foster her. Though Naruto has to admit, it's kind of a relief.

Maybe she didn't need parents.

"She's back already. Not even half a year and we're stuck with her again."

"Wouldn't it be great if something happened to her? She wouldn't be our problem anymore."

"Why doesn't she just disappear?"

Naruto pulls her blanket over her head.

Yeah, she doesn't need anyone.

『君必要しない I Don't Need Anyone』