"Someone's coming, kit."
"I know, Kyuubi. I can hear, you know." Naruto grumbled, lying back on his bed. Yeah, he was in a bad mood today. However, it wasn't everyday that someone came to see him. More often than not, they would just leave him in his room all day, only disturbing him for medication or meals. It wasn't feeding time yet, not for another 3 hours.
Yep. He had a feeding time.
"I don't see why I can't just go to the cafeteria like everyone else." Naruto mused aloud. He didn't know why he even bothered talking aloud when he spoke to Kyu and Kyuubi; they could hear his inner thoughts as well.
"Just trust the people here, kit. They know what they're doing."
"Hah!" Kyuubi scoffed "They don't have a damn clue what they're doing! Naruto's not crazy, and we both know it." He growled. Kyu simply smiled back at the angry being.
"Ignore him, Naruto. It will all be fine in the end. Be good now, alright?" Naruto nodded and Kyu smiled kindly whilst Kyuubi grinned cheekily at him. The blonde kid chuckled at how different, yet how alike the two were.
It would probably be best to explain the situation thoroughly.
Naruto was currently residing in a room at K.A.M.S. (Konoha Adolescent Mental Services). It was a relatively new addition to the city of Konoha, created after the older generation realised just how insane some the youths in their society actually were.
So, there Naruto was. Accused of being crazy because he heard voices in his head. Naruto refused to believe everyone accusations, though. To him, Kyu and Kyuubi were as real as anyone else. The only difference being that they were not tangible beings; but he was sure they once were. He was forever determined to believe that Kyu and Kyuubi were the leftover souls of two mythical creatures from centuries back.
And, by the way they bickered; he decided that they must be brothers or something.
Kyu was the nicer of the two. He was always kind and thoughtful and never failed to have some well thought out plan up his metaphorical sleeve.
Kyuubi was more...eccentric. He would often find ways of getting Naruto into trouble and then laughing about it afterwards. There would always be a way for him to make Naruto incredibly embarrassed.
"Alright, kit. We'll be quiet now."
"To hell we will!"
"Just shut up, Kyuubi-chan."
"Kyuubi-chan?! I ought to fucking slay you! Prick!"
"This is why Naruto listens to me more. I'm more mature."
"You FUCKING DI-"
"WILL YOU TWO JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Naruto screamed just as the door to his room opened, revealing his favourite nurse.
"Now, now, Naruto-kun. You know you're not supposed to talk to them anymore. You'll just convince yourself that they're real." Shizune smiled and walked into the room, taking a seat on the edge of Naruto's bed. He smiled back bashfully.
"Sorry, Shizune-sama. I can't help it sometimes..."
"Don't worry, I know." She smiled again before placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I was talking to Dr. Tsunade earlier," Shizune began again, smiling a little wider. "And we came to the conclusion that you were well enough to start going to the cafeteria with all the other patients!" She exclaimed happily.
Naruto beamed back at her.
"Really?! This is amazing! Cool! Can I go now?!" Naruto had never been the cafeteria. This was big for him.
"Woah, wait a second, Naruto-kun!" Shizune chuckled. "Yeah you can, but take your medication first." She handed him a pill and a cup of water. He took it without any fuss before rising quickly to his feet. He was practically bouncing on the spot.
"Can I go now?!" He shouted. Shizune laughed and nodded. He was out of the room faster than you could say 'attention deficit disorder'.
"...Maybe we should give him Ritalin instead..." Shizune mused as she, too, walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.
"Naruto-kun!"
"LEE!"
Two boys clashed together in the middle of the cafeteria in a bone-crushing hug. One of them was Naruto, our beautifully small and tanned blonde, and the other was Rock Lee.
Rock Lee had ADHD. He had been the first real friend that Naruto had ever made. They had both been at K.A.M.S from an early age; Naruto having been there longer.
(Well, I say K.A.M.S, but technically, one could only attend K.A.M.S once one had turned 13, making them an adolescent. There was a separate wing for those under the age of 13 that were admitted and it was called K.C.M.S (Konoha Child Mental Services), but that simply didn't have the same ring as K.A.M.S now, did it?)
Rock Lee had arrived at the tender age of 6 years old. At this moment in his life, Naruto was quiet and reserved, trying his best to not get in anyone's way and just generally be invisible.
But Rock Lee knew no meaning of the word.
"GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!" screamed a small, but incredibly loud, figure clad in green as it rushed past the few other children in the room. Naruto blinked once, convinced he was seeing things. However, after a few seconds had passed, the green blur ran past again, stopping in front of the adult supervising them today.
"Lee...would you please take a seat? We're going to read you all a story." The man smiled kindly. Naruto smiled, too. He loved story time.
"Story time?! Okay, sensei! I'll be good! I shall sit on this chair and, please, be sure to admire my youthful splendour!" The green boy gushed. It seemed Naruto wasn't the only one who liked story time...and what in the heck did splendour mean?
"Glory, kit. It means glory." Kyuubi's voice rang in his mind and Naruto nodded thoughtfully before taking a seat a little bit away from the overbearing presence of this new child.
Here, just like in all of his old schools, Naruto was generally ignored. Since his father had been American, his face held many American characteristics which meant that, a lot of the time, he didn't fit in with the other children. No one wanted to be friends with him and, as long as he had Kyu and Kyuubi, he didn't mind at all.
Their teacher, Kimmimaro, began to read. Naruto found that man's calm voice relaxing and he slumped into his seat, closing his eyes as he listened to the soothing sound of the words being read.
The new boy, however, grew incredibly restless.
He promptly got out of his seat, bored of the story, and looked for someone to play with. Of course, he spotted little Naruto draped over an even littler beanbag and went straight for him. He leapt into the air and landed on the blonde boy with a small 'thump'.
"Itaai!" Naruto exclaimed, clutching the arm that Lee had landed on to his chest and pouting irritably at the other boy. "That hurt and it wasn't nice!"
"Gomennasai!" the boy climbed off Naruto, putting his thumb up and grinning stupidly. In the other corner, their teacher simply rolled his eyes and continued reading.
Naruto regarded Lee in detail for the first time since his arrival. The boy wore green dungarees, too small for him and unnecessarily tight. His trainers were a loud orange, a colour that Naruto thought was pretty damn awesome. Under his dungarees was a simple green shirt with a picture of a tractor on it. Lee's hair was very thick, dark and course: the typical type of hair for a Japanese child. It was cut in a bowl-cut style which, on him, didn't really look that bad. Above his big round eyes sat two incredibly hairy caterpillars. Or were they eyebrows? Still, they dominated almost the entirety of the boy's face: it was quite terrifying. But Naruto thought it was quite cool.
"Your eyebrows are huge." He stated simply. Lee's smile just seemed to grow brighter.
"Thank you for noticing my most youthfully unique facial feature! Please, do me the favour of telling me your name! I would be honoured!" Lee shouted loud enough for Kimmimaro to throw him a disapproving frown and hold a finger to his lips. Lee just threw his teacher the thumbs up and ridiculous grin before turning back to Naruto and smiling expectantly.
"Umm... My name is Uzumaki Naruto." He said, not making eye contact and blushing slightly. No one had ever wanted to know his name: this was all new to him entirely. He was unsure of how to handle a situation like this and his shyness got the better of him. Thankfully, though, Lee didn't even notice.
"Well, Naruto-kun! We shall be the best of friends: I assure you! I am Rock Lee, but you can call me Lee!" He held out a hand for Naruto to shake, but when the blonde child looked at the hand and then into Lee's eyes, a look of pure confusion on his face, Lee merely grabbed Naruto's hand and flung it about a bit.
And, thus, a beautiful friendship was born.
"Naruto-kun! I can't believe it! You're finally allowed in the cafeteria! This is wonderful! Amazing! Spectacular! This, Naruto-kun, is the very definition of youthfulness!" Lee exclaimed through tears of joy as he thoroughly squeezed the life out of his blonde friend. Naruto chuckled in response, scratching the back of his head.
At the age of 12, Naruto had shown signs of severe social anxiety, causing him to have panic attacks when he was in large groups of people. Obviously, this meant he could not attend the group therapy sessions for a while, or go to the cafeteria. After a few months, he was gradually weaned back into group therapy and he found it incredibly helpful. He began to feel more comfortable around people again, proving this by making more friends, other than Lee.
When he was moved up to K.A.M.S at 13 years old, he was told that he was not 'well' enough to go to the cafeteria. He persevered with the issue, claiming that he was fine now and it was unfair to keep him from social interaction.
There were two main doctors that he was allowed to report to, himself. One was Dr. Tsunade, the head honcho at K.A.M.S. Tsunade was very kind and friendly towards Naruto, treating him more like a little brother than a patient. The two of them got along exceedingly well, despite how it might seem to the eye. She ran every little aspect in the institution; but could not overthrow the judgement of Naruto's personal psychologist.
Ah, Naruto's personal psychologist: Dr. Orochimaru Sannin MD. Dr. Orochimaru was the worst psychologist one would wish on a child. He was great at his job, don't fret, but perhaps he was a little too good. With excellence comes boredom; and with boredom comes reckless actions. Orochimaru simply had it in for the little blonde and Naruto was sure the snake was out to get him at all times. It had been he who had denied Naruto entry to the cafeteria for a long 3 years.
Naruto was now 16 and Orochimaru had, apparently, finally given the 'okay', meaning he didn't have to have a damn feeding time anymore. It was a small taste of freedom; but any sense of freedom in K.A.M.S felt like so much more: it was like you were on a high.
"Yeah, man!" Naruto said back, drawing back from the hug and looking over Lee's shoulder to grin at his other friends who smiled happily back. "I'm so happy! Dr. Orochimaru doesn't have me on a leash anymore, that's for sure. I guess Tsunade baa-chan finally got to him." Naruto laughed again and the two of them walked to the table at which their friends were sitting.
They were a close-knit group of friends, none of them tending to stray very far from each other unless it was required. The group consisted of:
Nara Shikamaru; a very lazy boy with dark frizzy hair pulled up into a high ponytail. The guy was incredibly smart with the highest IQ anyone had seen since Einstein. It was a real shame that he had gotten hooked on heroin. It had dropped his grades significantly meaning, had he stayed on the straight and narrow, he probably would have graduated College by now. Shikamaru was a recovering drug addict but, when he wasn't having a relapse, he was a really nice guy. When he did get a bit frustrated, however, his anger often got the better of him. This is why he didn't have a roommate.
Yamanaka Ino; a beautifully wonderful girl with bright blue eyes and luscious blonde hair. She was very similar to Naruto in this sense but her hair was definitely lighter and her eyes not quite the shade of cerulean that Naruto's eyes were. Ino was a great girl, always there for anyone who needed her. She was at K.A.M.S because she suffered from severe paranoia. The girl was convinced that she was being watched 24/7. She roomed with:
Haruno Sakura; a bright girl with equally bright hair. In a fit of rebellion, she'd dyed her hair pink. It suited her and definitely helped to bring out her pretty green eyes since the colours were so starkly different. She had obsessive compulsive disorder. Severe obsessive compulsive disorder.
Hyuuga Neji; he was also quite smart, thought nothing in comparison to Shikamaru. Neji put all his effort into everything and refused to lose. He suffered from what the Doctors called Narcissist personality disorder, or a 'God Complex'. The boy was completely self-involved and sure that he was the only person that really mattered. However, when one believed they were God, there was an air of responsibility around them. Neji considered himself the guardian of the group, keeping them all out of harm's way. His cousin also attended K.A.M.S.
Hyuuga Hinata; a painfully shy but beautiful girl. She had long black hair that reached all the way down her back before coming to a stop just above her hips. She was taller than Ino and Sakura and certainly more well-endowed, much to their displeasure. Hinata was entirely likeable and she suffered from echolalia which caused her to repeat anything she was asked before she could answer. It wasn't a speech impediment, but a cripplingly shy state of mind.
Inuzuka Kiba. Well. Kiba's condition was the most obvious out of everyone else's seeing as it affected him 24/7. Kiba was an average height and his hair was short, brown and scruffy, but in an endearing sense that suited him perfectly. His eyes were warm and kind, just like a dogs' would be, and he sported a tattoo on either cheek which made his face look narrow and canine-like. Inuzuka Kiba believed that he was a dog. Not just a dog, though. No, don't be silly. Kiba thought that he was a humanoid dog. Yes, that's right. He would behave like a dog, but would speak like a human and wear clothes like a human. It was as if he were a dog in the body of a person.
Which, finally, led us to Rock Lee; their energetic friend with ADHD. Pretty self explanatory. He was basically the same as he had been since he was a child, except he'd grown into those eyebrows of his.
"Naruto! How come you're allowed here now?" Sakura asked, gesturing for the blonde to take a seat between her and Ino. The two of them sported major crushes on Naruto and were competing for his love. However, Naruto was so dense, it didn't matter what they did: he'd never notice.
"I don't know. I guess Tsunade baa-chan must've gotten to Dr. Orochimaru in the end." He sat down and stole one of Sakura's fries, munching on it happily. "And it's about damn time! Oh, French fries, where have you been all my life?!" He exclaimed, pinching another one sneakily. Not that Sakura would actually care.
"What? You weren't allowed French fires with your 'room service'?" Ino asked, her blue orbs questioning.
"Nah, I had plenty of fries with my 'room service'. It's just fun to say stuff like that, don't you think?" He grinned and, with the amount of blood currently rushing to her head, Ino would probably have nodded to anything he would have said at that moment in time.
"Hey, Kiba! You got crap on my jeans!" Neji shouted, standing up to brush the minuscule crumbs from his clothes. Kiba looked up to the other guy and smiled apologetically, his mouth surrounded with bits of food, indicating that, yet again, he had eaten without proper utensils.
There was some friendly banter while they ate. They all got on extremely well outside of group therapy, and Naruto was glad. That was the only other time he had been allowed to see them, in group therapy, so this was a really nice change. There was a TV room which housed the only TV on the site with cable, but Naruto hadn't been allowed to go there either. However, since he was allowed to go to the cafeteria, who was to say he couldn't hang in the TV room with his friends?
"Excuse me, could I possibly sit here?" The voice that spoke was incredibly quiet, but it registered in Naruto's mind immediately as the person he saw most in K.A.M.S, but knew hardly anything about.
"Sure, Gaara, come sit next to me." He shuffled in Sakura's direction (to her glee) and made a little space for his...acquaintance. Gaara took the seat and nodded his appreciation in Naruto's direction before eating.
"Well, that's kinda rude. Not even saying 'Thank you'." Scolded Sakura, frowning at the boy beside Naruto. Gaara put down his fork and turned to face her, his face cold and devoid of all emotion. His eyes were outlined in thick, black eyeliner and he had 'love' in kanji tattooed on his forehead. Gaara's hair was blood red, matching the colour of the tattoo, and contrasting with his wonderfully pale skin. His face was both haunting and inexplicably beautiful. Naruto saw the glint of anger in Gaara's eyes and quickly gave Sakura a 'look'.
"Naw, Sakura, it's cool. Gaara here's just not so great at showing emotions is all!" Naruto explained quickly, making sure Sakura got the message not to piss off Gaara. The poor girl had no idea what he was capable of...
Gaara was in every one of Naruto's classes. Yeah, just because they were all insane didn't mean that they didn't have to go to school. They had different groups for their group therapy and their classes. Some of his friends were lucky enough to have their classes and group therapy together, but he hadn't been. Gaara didn't have any friends himself, so Naruto had sat next to him in art class. Since then, they'd always hung out together in class.
His friends were definitely wary of Gaara, knowing just how different he was to everyone else. See, whereas everyone else tended to be fairly peaceful and kind, Gaara was in K.A.M.S because, as his psychologist had said, he had 'potential to become a psychopath'. The boy was obsessed with blood and gore, spending his spare time watching 'SAW II' and smiling to himself as he watched bodies being ripped apart.
So, Gaara ate with them that day, and it wouldn't be the last either. After eating, they all, minus Gaara who went to his room, went to the TV room and carried on watching the TV until Shizune appeared at the door.
"Enjoying your new-found freedom, Naruto-kun?" She asked, smiling at him as he turned and grinned happily.
"Yeah I am! This is so great, Shizune-sama! I love it!" He exclaimed, throwing an arm around Lee and laughing heartily. Shizune was glad to see him so happy...and hoped the news she would be giving him wouldn't anger him too much.
"She's got some bad news, kit." Kyuubi said in the back of his mind.
"Kyuubi's right, kit. But, like I said, trust her. Trust us: you know you can trust Shizune. She knows what she's doing. As does Tsunade." Kyu comforted him in a soothing voice. Naruto didn't let his expression falter on the outside, but inside he grew worried.
"I'm glad to hear it." Shizune said before stepping to the side and allowing some space for him to leave the room. "If you wouldn't mind, I need to talk to you. It's getting close to lights-out anyway, so the rest of you had better get to your rooms."
His friends shut off the TV and bid him and Shizune goodnight before they all went their separate ways to their rooms. Shizune gestured for Naruto to follow her. They headed in the direction of his own room.
"Listen, Naruto-kun," Shizune began, keeping her eyes on the clipboard in her hands instead of him "I know you like having your own room...but we've had a new admittance today and we can't seem to find anyone else who would be a suitable roommate. Is it alright if we let him room with you?" She flinched, ready for the outburst she was sure to get.
"Yeah, Shizune-sama. That's fine." Naruto smiled, though he was quite disappointed. He didn't want to have to share his damn room. He liked being by himself. That was how it had always been. But, he knew that if he refused it would just cause Shizune-sama and Tsunade baa-chan a lot of trouble: and he really didn't want to do that.
"That's great, Naruto-kun! Thank you so much! He'll be arriving tonight at some point. In fact," she looked at her wrist watch "he might be there now." They stopped outside Naruto's room and Shizune thanked him once more before walking on down the hall. Taking a deep breath, Naruto opened the door to his room.
No one was there, yet.
He sighed, walking over to his bed and sitting down as he pulled off his socks. Then; his trousers and shirt, leaving him in his boxers. Normally, this would be how he would sleep, but since he would now have company, he pulled on some jogging bottoms and a white tank top before he climbed into the bed and shut off his bedside light.
"Stupid fucking brother..."
Naruto woke up, groggily opening his eyes and trying to find the source of what the hell woke him up. The lamp across the room, belonging to his roommate was on, meaning that his roommate must have arrived. The digital clock read 2:34am.
"Nggh..." Naruto said intelligently as he rose from his bed. He turned to face his roommate and smiled. "Hey, you must be my roommate." He said sleepily, unable to make out the figure in his state of sleepiness. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. It's a pleasure to meet you...?"
"Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke." Replied his roommate.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Uchiha-san. I'm sure we'll be the best of friends." Naruto yawned before falling back onto his bed, his eyes closed. He was asleep in the blink of an eye.
Unbeknownst to him, his roommate sat down on the other bed and raked in the vision of the sleeping blonde with smouldering obsidian eyes. A small smirk played at his lips.
"Hn. It seems that my brother isn't an entire idiot after all..."