Author's Note: Ok, so I had a theme in mind when I was dreaming up this story and I think I kinda missed it. The idea was supposed to be that the next generation weren't like their parents, and could accept Naruto and be his friends despite what their families think of him. I realize now that I kinda put in all the emo and then left out the moral of the story. Sooooooooo, here it is!

Chapter 6: Epilogue

Naruto was having a good morning. A really good, spectacular morning. A once in a blue moon type of really good morning. Mornings like this really didn't come often in his life, and so he was thoroughly enjoying this one while it lasted. He almost didn't want to go to school, to face all those cold stares and have it ruined, but then again there was always the possibility that this wonderful morning would extend throughout his day, and that he would also have a wonderful day at school.

He had woken up from a dreamless sleep feeling incredibly well rested. Smiling contentedly at the feeling he'd yawned, stretched, and got out of bed, opening up his bedside table to put away his sleeping cap. The moment the drawer was open however he'd found, tucked neatly away inside, a large wad of cash. He'd picked it up, examining it for almost ten minutes. For the life of him he could not figure out how it had gotten there. He'd already cashed his allowance check from this month, using all but the bit of change he currently had in his wallet to pay his rent and get groceries. He thought back on those groceries, wondering what was left. Nothing he really felt like eating, except for the one remaining cup of instant ramen, which he figured he'd have for breakfast just to complete this wonderful morning. Studying the money, he grinned to himself. This was . . . this was pocket money! He had what he needed, so he was free to use this, however he'd come by it, to buy whatever he wanted! He could go to the bookstore and buy a new manga! He could go with Choji and Shikamaru to the candy store after school! He could, and he shuddered in delight at the thought, go to Ichiraku for dinner and eat practically whatever he wanted!

He jumped out of bed and dashed to his little frog wallet, putting the money quickly inside and giggling delightedly at how fat the frog had gotten. He took the frog with him to the kitchen, reluctant to leave it alone, and set it on the counter as he looked for something to eat. He went to the fridge, wondering if he had any milk left to go with his ramen.

His jaw dropped.

Not only was there milk, there was a whole gallon of it, not to mention a large bag of vegetables, and butter, none of which he remembered buying. Turning quickly around he glanced back at the counter, to see that there was a bowl of fruit and a loaf of bread sitting there that he also did not remember. He shut the fridge and darted to the cabinet, opening it hesitantly to find . . . yes! At least a dozen cups of instant ramen! Somebody must like him!Gleefully he took one down, put in the water and stuck it in the microwave. He pulled out the butter, the milk and a glass, then popped two pieces of bread in the toaster. He inspected the vegetables as the timer on the microwave counted down to zero, and for good measure he pulled out the one that looked the most edible, a carrot, and set it on the table as well, forcing himself to nibble on it as he pulled out the ramen and buttered his toast. Wolfing down toast, ramen and, reluctantly, carrot, Naruto jumped up from the kitchen table, grabbed his bag and set off for school.

That was where his oh-so-wonderful morning came to an abrupt end.

Running down the road towards the school building, wondering if he was going to be late, he'd darted around a corner and suddenly heard a familiar voice calling to him from further towards the school.

"Hey, Naruto!" called Kiba, turning to wave at him. At first Naruto had simply called back to him happily, glad that the first person he'd met was a friend and not one of his cold eyed teachers, but as he approached Kiba he began to get an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was unpleasant, but he couldn't quite place it, and it wasn't until he was not five feet away from Kiba, now in full view of each other, that it really set in.

Panic.

Fear hit him like a wall as he came into range of his classmate. It jolted his whole body and sent his heart racing. He felt the hairs on the back of his head stand up, and his skin crawled as shivers started racing up and down his spine. He sucked in a shaky breath, trying to clamp down the emotion, trying to keep his panic from showing on his face. What was wrong with him? Kiba was his classmate, his friend! The sight of him should make Naruto feel fear. What was going on?

Kiba, however, seemed to notice the fear in Naruto's face anyway. He blinked, confused. "Hey, what's wrong Naruto?" he asked, frowning, "And what happened to your ear?"

"My ear?" Naruto asked, perplexed. Reaching up he felt his right ear, only to wince at the pain as he jostled what seemed to be a metal clip holding two compresses on either side of his earlobe. He hadn't noticed this earlier, nor did he have anymore idea where this had come from than the pocket money or the food. He frowned, trying to remember.

"I . . . I don't know," he whispered, dazedly wondering what the hell was going on.

Kiba looked at Naruto oddly for a moment, then shrugged. "Come on," he called, turning, "Iruka-sensei will yell at us if we're late."

The droning of Iruka's voice barely even reached Naruto's ears as he sat, frozen in his seat at the back of the class. Normally he would fidget in his chair restlessly, he'd never liked sitting still for too long, and he was almost never quiet. Now he was silent and perfectly still, almost afraid to move. Iruka kept darting him odd, concerned looks, but did not stop the lesson or ask him what was wrong. It was just as well, since he didn't have an answer. He hadn't the faintest idea why, but somehow the room seemed to be full of danger.

It hadn't stopped with Kiba. As they'd entered the classroom Shikamaru and Choji, already seated, had waved to them to come and sit together. Again, and for no apparent reason, Naruto had been struck by a sudden blind terror, more intense than before, and it'd taken all his self control not to bolt from the room and run straight home. Instead he'd shakily told them no thanks and gone to sit in the back of the room, where he could keep an eye on them and the rest of the class. They all gave him strange looks, and every once it a while Naruto's heart would leap into his throat as one turned in his seat to look at him again.

He put his head on his desk, tugging at his spiky blond hair with both hands. What was going on! Why was he suddenly petrified of all his friends! Admittedly they weren't fantastically close, he'd never told them, for instance, about all the cold looks he got from the teachers, and they didn't seem to notice. But how many times had they all broken free out the back window together? How often had they sat, just the four of the, in the training hall, hiding from the teachers as they did whatever they pleased with their stolen free time? How many days had they spent at the playground together, laughing and joking, messing around, pushing each other, and without the slightest hint of any ill intent from any of them! So why, why was he suddenly afraid to even go near them?

It wasn't just them either. As he looked around the classroom from his vantage point at the back he saw other faces, seeming scattered at random, that filled him with dread. Ino, a girl he'd never even spoken to but he knew as a friend of Sakura's, suddenly seemed quite terrifying. Shino, also sitting in the back but at the other side of the room, also seemed vaguely threatening, especially when Naruto began to notice that there were bugs skittering, relentlessly and almost entirely unnoticed, across his desk. Even Hinata, a shy, timid girl whose name he barely even knew, seemed suddenly far more creepy than usual!

Something definitely weird was going on.

Free time found Naruto standing by the door of the school as all the other children flooded outside, laughing and yelling. Kiba and the others had run by without noticing him, and he supposed it was for the best, since he couldn't think of a way to explain why he didn't want to play with them. Now that they were all engaged in their own activities he began to move toward a nearby hill, where Sakura had gone to pick flowers, thankfully unaccompanied by Ino.

She didn't notice him right away. Instead he was able to drift along behind her, simply watching as she knelt in a patch of brightly colored wildflowers. She seemed almost surreally beautiful, surrounded by bright colors, her pink hair blending in perfectly with the pastel flowers. He knew this was kind of creepy, and she would either cry or call Ino to hit him if she turned around and saw him now, but somehow he could not pull his eyes away. She seemed like part of a perfect dream, totally untouched by the troubles of the world.

He wondered if she'd ever woken up with strange injuries, either wondering how she'd got them or wincing at the painful, scary memories they brought forth.

He wondered if she'd ever been really hungry, and gone to the kitchen to find there was nothing to eat.

He wondered if anyone had ever leered at her, had ever given her an icy stare, as if to say that she didn't belong and should go away.

No, he didn't think she had. She was beautiful and sweet and innocent, she fit perfectly in this beautiful world, full of sunshine and brightly colored flowers. The world was made for people like her, nice to look at with nothing unnatural about them.

She had parents to take care of her.

In that moment, as though she had sensed his thoughts, she turned around. She didn't look angry or frightened, just curious as she turned to him, locking onto his face with her large green eyes.

The force of his memories hitting him made him shoot backwards and tumble down the hill.

Everything came flooding back in a great rush, a torrent of memories that crashed through his head as his body turned over and over roughly, his feet flying over his head as he fell, end over end, down the hill. Tsubaki, the dogs, the turpentine, the toaster, the bug spray, the ANBU who looked like his classmates, the burned out bunker, the electrified waterfall, the alley full of paper bombs, the tag in his ear.

And the dying Tsubaki's green eyes.

"Naruto! Hey, Naruto! Are you ok? Naruto, wake up!"

Naruto opened his eyes, blinking hurriedly in the bright sunshine. Iruka-sensei was kneeling over him, several curious students peering over his shoulder.

His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. He had no idea what to say. His head was spinning. Images swam before his eyes. Then everything stopped. The clamoring of the children died down, the images flickered out, and everything faded into darkness.

The next thing he knew he was lying in the nurse's office. Nobody seemed to have noticed he was awake yet, so when he turned his now throbbing head he saw Iruka with his back to him, arguing with the nurse.

"He's been out of it since this morning!" Iruka insisted, gesturing with both hands. "He was so quiet I thought something must be wrong, and now he just goes and falls down that hill and passes out! There has to be something going on!"

"I've checked him over thoroughly!" insisted the nurse, a pretty brunette woman with a sour expression. "There's nothing medically wrong with him!"

"Then what happened to his ear!" Iruka demanded, obviously not giving up.

"He had that when he came in!" she retorted.

"Um," Naruto piped up softly, trying to sit up through the pain in his spinning head.

"Naruto!" Iruka cried, immediately rushing over to him and kneeling by the cot where he was sitting.

"Are you alright?" Iruka asked desperately, leaning over the cot so he could look Naruto in the eye.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Naruto muttered. He clutched at his head, closing his eyes and taking several deep breaths. After a moment the pain began to recede and the room stopped spinning, and he was able to open his eyes and face Iruka's half panicked expression.

"I'm fine," he repeated, "just, something happened."

"What happened?" Iruka asked earnestly.

Naruto hesitated. He could tell Iruka what had happened, but really, what good would it do? As far as he remembered the ANBU were all dead, so it wasn't like he had to worry about them coming after him again, and what would be the point of rehashing it all if there was no more danger? Who would care, besides Iruka, anyway? In the end he decided against it. He didn't want to talk about it.

"Just a nightmare I had," he told his teacher, trying to sound honest, "something made me remember it, that's all."

"A nightmare?" Iruka asked skeptically.

Naruto nodded, willing Iruka to buy it.

Iruka stared at him for another minute, obviously not convinced, but after a moment's consideration he seemed to decide that if Naruto didn't want to talk about it he would let it slide.

"Alright," he said, "if you feel better you can go back outside. You still have twenty minutes left in free time."

"Thanks," Naruto said, climbing off the cot. His head didn't hurt anymore and he actually felt better. Iruka nodded, and Naruto quickly darted for the door.

He wandered cautiously outside, looking about for Kiba and the others. He found them at last, playing with one of the school's nondescript balls, simply kicking it back and forth between themselves without a care in the world. He watched them for a while, standing a safe distance where he was sure they wouldn't notice him.

How could they managed to be so much like the ANBU, and yet so different at the same time? How could two people, obviously related, with such similar personalities, have such conflicting opinions about something?

How could he not be afraid of his friends, when they were so much like their relatives?

Because they weren't their relatives.

They weren't the people that had threatened him. They were the ones that liked him, accepted him, played with him, laughed with him, shared their lives with him. They were his classmates, his friends, and one day they would be his comrades. How could he think to judge them based on the actions of their families?

Suddenly Naruto let out a weak, tiny little laugh, which quickly grew in strength and volume until he was laughing out loud. A great weight seemed to lift off his chest as he laughed, and suddenly he knew, but instinct, that things would somehow be alright. Running forward, he hailed Kiba.

"Hey!" he called, waving his arms as he moved to join the circle, "Pass it here!"

"Naruto!" Kiba yelled back, beaming and kicking him the ball, "we missed you! What happened back there anyways?"

"Nothing special," Naruto laughed, kicking the ball up to bounce it on his head for a moment, "just wasn't feeling well. I feel great now though!"

"Whatever," Kiba rolled, his eyes, "pass it idiot!"

Naruto couldn't even find it in himself to yell at Kiba. He laughed and passed the ball, and while Shikamaru was catching it and passing it on he glanced back at the hill. Sakura was still sitting there, this time with Ino. The blond seemed to be explaining something about the flower she was holding, and Sakura was listening with rapt attention.

Was Sakura related to Tsubaki? Were they similar as well? Was there a danger of Sakura turning out like the ANBU captain?

Not a chance, Naruto told himself. He would never let that happen to her. He would never allow her to become so horrible, so sadistic, so pointlessly cruel. He would protect her his whole life if that was what it took to prevent that.

Naruto was abruptly knocked out of his musings by the ball hitting him in the side of the head.

"Hey moron!" Kiba jeered, "You do remember what we're doing, right?"

"Oh shut up fang-face!" Naruto yelled back, and kicked the ball as hard as he could in Kiba's general direction. Shikamaru and Choji both laughed as it sailed over Kiba's head. Naruto smiled broadly.

Author's Note: Well, now that that totally sappy and slightly nonsensical epilogue is over, who wants cheesecake!