Follow my lead
Naruto was a nervous mess when he woke up this morning. Mainly because today was his tenth birthday. Unlike most kids who look forward to their birthday every year, Naruto dreaded it. He woke up after a long sleepless night of tossing and turning, he couldn't sleep because he kept having nightmares. It was the same thing over and over again, he would be walking down a long, dark corridor, his feet felt like they were ankle-deep in water, but he couldn't turn back. He kept walking forward until he saw a bright yellow light, he started to run towards it, he kept running and running until she got close to the light.
He felt like he was running forever without being able to reach that light until suddenly, the light started coming closer and closer. Before he knew it, he was standing in a place filled with fire. Everywhere he looked, there was fire, it got hard to breathe the longer he stood in that place, but whenever he turned to go back the way he came, the path was gone. He would be stuck in that place struggling to breathe and surrounded by the fire until he finally woke up. Every time Naruto had that dream, he would wake up with a sense of dread. There would always be something bad that happens during the day that made him wish that he was never born. He often had that dream when his birthday drew near, but since his dream was especially realistic that night, he was more worried today.
Naruto got out of bed and made his way over to the bathroom to wash up before he got dressed. He didn't feel like going outside today because of that dream, but he still needed to go to school. Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, made Naruto a promise when he was five. If Naruto was able to pass the genin exam after he turned twelve, then he would become a ninja. Naruto wanted more than anything to become a ninja, if he was allowed to become a part of the shinobi ranks, he would be able to earn his own money. Naruto's biggest goal after becoming a ninja was to move into the forest, he had always loved nature, so always wanted to live in the woods.
Away from other people.
Naruto made his way out of his apartment, he found his way to the academy easily enough. He made it to his classroom where he found his two friends, Shikamaru and Chouji. The only two who were willing to become friends with him, despite what others said about him. Just about everyone he came across in the leaf village said that he was a monster, a killing, but Naruto had no idea why they always said those things about him. He never did anything wrong, that he knew of, so he didn't understand their hate. Either way, Naruto was thankful that Shikamaru and Chouji decided to become his friends. Naruto was happy to hang out with them after school and during breaks, they made him feel less lonely. "Hey, Naruto, what's up?" Chouji said happy to see his friend, Naruto took his seat next to Chouji and the sleeping Shikamaru.
"Hey, Chouji," Naruto replied. He leaned forward to see Shikamaru, "good morning sleepyhead," he smiled with the sleepy Nara lifted his head slightly before letting it fall back on his arm. Naruto chuckled, turned back to Chouji, "so, what should we do after school today?"
"We'll probably go to the park for a while," Chouji stated.
"Sounds good," Naruto said happily. He never cared what they did, as long as he could hang out with two people he didn't give him those hateful glares that the rest of the village usually gave him, he would do anything with them.
"Alright everyone, settle down," Iruka called out to the class after walking in. "Today we will be learning a new jutsu, it's the second of the Academy's Three Basic jutsus. The jutsu's name is called the transformation jutsu. You all must learn this for this year's midterm final exam." Iruka went on to explain how the jutsu worked and how it was created. Ever since Naruto started going to the academy, all of the teachers would send him out of the room so that he wouldn't learn anything, however, Iruka was slightly different from those other teachers. Iruka allowed Naruto to stay in the class while he taught the other students, but whenever Naruto acted out, Iruka told the other students to ignore him.
Naruto would be lying if he said hearing Iruka say that didn't hurt him inside. Naruto wasn't trying to act out on purpose, the other students would try to get him in trouble, but instead of them getting caught, he got caught instead. After a while, Naruto stopped acting out as much as he used to, he didn't pull half as many pranks as he did during his first two years at the academy. Not that anyone noticed, other than his friends. If it were not for his dream of earning enough money to build his own home in the forest, he probably would not go to the academy every day, Hiruzen had already done all he can to keep Naruto from getting kicked out of the academy.
After class
At the end of the class, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Naruto were leaving the room to go hang out at the park they usually hung out at. It was only a five-minute walk away from the academy, but before they could make it out of the door, Iruka called Naruto over to his desk. Naruto was a little worried about what he was being called over for, but instead of questioning it in his mind, he hesitantly made his way over to Iruka's desk. Chouji and Shikamaru waited for their friend outside. Naruto stood in front of Iruka's desk quietly, Iruka looked down at him with a thoughtful look on his face. "Naruto, I am only going to ask you this once," Iruka started seriously.
"O-okay," Naruto stuttered. He thought back to what he did earlier today. He remembered waking up from his nightmare and going to get ready. He remembered walking to school alone that morning, he remembered the few people he passed on the way, the way they stared at him as he walked. He didn't do anything out of the ordinary this morning, so he had no idea why Iruka was calling him, staring at him as if he did something wrong.
"This morning, when you came to school, what did you do?" Iruka asked cryptically.
Naruto looked up at Iruka confused, "uh, I came in and sat down," he said. He wasn't sure if that was a trick question or something. The way that Iruka was looking at him at that very moment made Naruto feel like he was being looked at under a magnifying glass.
Iruka narrowed his eyes at the boy in front of him, "don't lie to me, Naruto, what did you do this morning?" He asked, raising his voice a little since his frustration was already high enough.
Naruto was a little startled, how could he have lied when he was telling the truth. "But...but it's not a lie. I did-" he was cut off before he could finish.
"That's enough!" Iruka stood up and walked around his desk quickly. He stood towering over Naruto like a giant, Naruto became nervous and took a step back, Iruka clenched his fist as he continued to stare at the boy. "I already know that you were the one to paint those vulgar words in the principal's office. I also know that you're the one who hides a snack in the boy's bathroom earlier during the lunch break. Now I already gave you a chance, but you need to tell me right now why you did those things, or else."
Naruto got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, "but, I already told you that I didn't do anything, sensei! I don't know what you're talking about!"
Iruka huffed, "all right then, you can explain that to the principal yourself," he grabbed Naruto by the arm and pulled him along whi8le he walked. Naruto was a little freaked out, he didn't know what Iruka was talking about because Naruto had never painted anything on anyone's walls ever. If he was going to paint something on a wall, it would probably be a funny face or something simple like that, but never curse words. That was mainly because he couldn't spell words that well. No one ever took the time to teach him anything, and he wasn't allowed into the library, so he couldn't teach himself how to read or write all that well.
Iruka marched out of the classroom with Naruto and headed straight for the principal's office, passing Shikamaru and Chouji along the way. The two boys watched as their friend got pulled away by their teacher, "what's going on?" Chouji asked completely confused by seeing Naruto in trouble all of a sudden. He knew that Naruto was with them all day since he got to class, so he didn't understand.
Shikamaru was also very confused, but also skeptical about why Naruto was in trouble. "I'm not completely sure yet, but let's go find out," the Nara said already following after their sensei and their friend. Naruto looked like he was getting upset, Shikamaru didn't want to see either of his friends upset, so he was going to get to the bottom of this. He got the feeling that someone lied and was using Naruto as a scapegoat. "Iruka sensei," Shikamaru called out to the chunin.
Iruka paused for a moment to see who called his name, he was a little surprised to see that it was Shikamaru. "Shikamaru? Is there something that you need?'
Shikamaru nodded, "yeah, I wanna know what Naruto did to make you so mad all of a sudden."
Iruka frowned, "that is between me, him, and the principal. You don't need to get involved."
"Troublesome, yeah, I know that, but see, I don't get why you're mad at him in the first place." Shikamaru sighed, he disliked getting involved with other people's problems, but if it involves his friends, he was going to get involved. "Listen, we were both with Naruto all day, he came in this morning and didn't leave our sight all day."
Iruka frowned, "did he tell you to say that?"
"Why would he?" Chouji asked.
"More importantly, what do you think he did?" Shikamaru stepped forward looking up at Iruka. He looked the man in his eyes for a long moment, Iruka didn't say anything at first, it made Shikamaru feel as though his hunch was right. "Do you have any proof he did it?"
Iruka paused for a moment, he thought about it for a moment, he had been so sure that it had been Naruto because he always assumed that it was Naruto. Yet, since Shikamaru was asking him for the proof, he was getting ready to tell him what he had on the blond container. Only, he didn't have anything to prove or disproof that Naruto was the one that painted the principal's office, nor did he have the proof to say that Naruto was the one to put the snake in the toilet. He frowned deeply, "well, now that I think about it, I can't say...But..." he took a moment to think before letting out a heavy sigh. He couldn't believe that he was about to blame Naruto for not doing something, since he didn't have any proof, he decided that he might as well let the boy go for now. "Alright, I'll let you go this time," Iruka started letting go of Naruto's arm.
Naruto quickly backed away from Iruka's grasp as quickly as he could, he came to stand between his friends holding his arm. Iruka seemed to have gotten carried away with his anger and squeezed Naruto's arm a little hard. Naruto could feel the tears welling up behind his eyes, he was frustrated that no one would believe him even when he was telling the truth. The worse part of all of this was that this was not the first time he was accused of doing something that he didn't do. He was tired of being called a liar and a demon, he wished that someone would tell him what he did to deserve this treatment, but no one ever cared to.
Chouji placed a gentle hand on Naruto's shoulder to comfort him, Chouji couldn't imagine what it was like to always have someone blame him for something he didn't do. These things always seemed to happen to Naruto, even when he was telling the truth. "Come on, Naru, let's go," Chouji said softly, the blond nodded as he tried to keep the tears from leaving his eyes. Chouji lead naruto down the hallway away from Iruka while Naruto kept his head down so that his eyes could be hidden by his messy blond hair.
Iruka couldn't help but think that he had done something wrong. The way that Naruto looked and acted reminded him of a child finally getting away from an abusive parent. But Iruka didn't buy it, he wouldn't let Naruto's sweet and innocent act fool him, he knew the boy was a demon. The same demon that killed his parents ten years ago. Iruka folded his arms, determined to reveal the truth about what happened this morning, he just knew that Naruto had to have woken up extra early to paint those foul words on the principal's office walls. He just knew, and he would find the proof to back it up soon enough. But in the meantime, Iruka turned his attention to Shikamaru who was just following Chouji and Naruto, "Shikamaru," he stopped the young Nara.
Shikamaru looked back at Iruka, he didn't care much for the way the guy was treating his friend just now. He could tell that Iruka was a good teacher and he did take his job seriously, yet, his attitude towards Naruto was something he couldn't overlook. "Yes?" He answered.
"Why do you always take up for him?" Iruka asked honestly if the heir to the smartest clans in Konoha had been brainwashed by the demon fox, then his parents should be notified about this. He wanted to see what Shikamaru had to say for himself now that he got the chance to talk with the boy alone.
Shikamaru looked up at Iruka in silence for a minute before he replied, "if you didn't see Naruto do the things that you accused him of, then there's no point in accusing him, is there? It's too troublesome to go through all of that and only have your word to go off of. I might as well believe everything that everyone else says about you, me, and anyone else in this village. But that still doesn't make it true." With that, he turned away from the chunin and left to catch up with his friends, leaving Iruka to think over his words.
later at the park
Naruto whipped his eyes and hugged his knees to his chest. He didn't know why he was crying over something that happens all the time, maybe it was because it happened so often that he couldn't hold back his tears anymore. He wasn't sure if that was it, but it made a lot of sense to him. Naruto let out a heavy sigh, "are you feeling better now, Naruto?" Chouji asked softly, Naruto turned to the Akimichi with a small smile on his face, Chouji returned the smile, "good. I'm sure that whatever it was that sensei thought you did, was probably done by someone else. If sensei looks at it that way, then he's sure to find the real person who did whatever it was he was mad about."
"By the way," Shikamaru opened his eyes to look up at the clouds from where he lay in the grass. He turned his head to the sigh to look up at Naruto, "did he even say what he was mad at you for?" He asked, he figured that if they knew what Iruka was mad about, then maybe they could better defend Naruto the next time something like that happens. However, while Shikamaru was talking to Iruka earlier, the chunin never said what it was that Naruto supposedly did.
Naruto shook his head, "no. He didn't say anything about it, he just wanted me to tell him what I did when I came to class this morning. When I told him, that was when he got really mad and started pulling me down the hallway."
Shikamaru frowned, which told him nothing. He didn't hear anything about a prank being pulled on anyone at the academy during the whole day either, so either there was nothing to blame Naruto about. Or, it was a prank that someone else did just to get Naruto into trouble. Shikamaru wanted to get to the bottom of whatever it was so that his friend could have peace of mind again. Then again, that won't stop others from pulling another prank to get Naruto into trouble again. "Troublesome," he mutters and turned his eyes up to the clouds, the most uncomplicated thing in this would he could count on.
Naruto rested his forehead on his knee caps, he felt so tired right now, more than he ever did. He was tired of living this kind of life where no one wants to get to know him, or talk to him, or be friends with him, anything. Naruto had always wished to be a part of a family until he turned four and the orphanage director told him that it would be impossible. Naruto had nightmares about people not wanting him, that he was not good enough for anyone to love him.
It hurt his heart to the point that he couldn't stand it, but there wasn't anything that he could do about it. Naruto let out another sigh and closed his eyes as he listened to the wind and the sounds of nature around him. He never could get used to being around people since only Shikamaru and Chouji showed him any affection at all. Other than them, Naruto felt that he had no one to turn to, even the Hokage is very busy. Because of that, he would rather spend all of his time surrounded by nature, animals seemed to like him a lot, and he loved playing with the animals, that is why he wished he could live in the forest surrounded by the animals and nature.
As he let his miserable thoughts of what happened earlier float away, Naruto allowed his mind to be filled with all the sounds of nature. The gentle breeze, the summer air, the warmth of the sun. It was so peaceful that he didn't want to move from his spot. He allowed himself to get lost in thought for a long while....he was just starting to relax when he caught the scent of caramel cooking in the distance. Naruto lifted his head and sniffed the air, he was smelling something sweet, caramel, and something hot, like popcorn. The smells were coming from the same direction as the marketplace. That's when he noticed it, the sun was about to leave the sky for the night, the light blue color of the daytime had quickly turned into the warm colors of evening. "It's getting late," he whispered not believing how quickly time flew by.
Then it hit him, "I need to go," Naruto jumped to his feet and started running off in the direction of his apartment. He needed to get there quickly before anyone else saw him.
Naruto's urgent movements startled his friends a bit. "Where are you going, Naruto?" Chouji asked, he noticed that Naruto usually acted this way around this time of the year. He always wondered by, although, Naruto had mentioned that he disliked the Kyuubi festival before. Even though he knew that Chouji still wanted to know why he acted this way during the Kyuubi festival.
Shikamaru sat up, he had been woken up by Naruto's sudden movements next to him. He thought that Naruto would like to try going to the festival with them this year, he thought that they could help him get over his fears of the festival. But, when he caught sight of Naruto's face, he knew that Naruto wasn't ready for something like that yet. Shikamaru could see the fear in Naruto's eyes, it made him wonder what was so scary about the festival for Naruto. As Naruto stood there, thinking of some excuse to tell his friends, Shikamaru decided to get up as well, "okay. If you need to go home right now, then you can go. We'll talk to you tomorrow at school."
Chouji looked at Shikamaru surprised, "really, Shika? Are you sure, I thought-"
"Yeah," Shikamaru nodded to Chouji, "we can always talk to him later, right?"
Chouji looked into Shikamaru's eyes for a second before he got the idea, "oh, right, okay." He turned to Naruto with a bright smile, "we'll talk to you later."
Naruto felt bad for leaving his friends so suddenly. He had planned to leave to go home sooner before the sun went down so he could get back home in time. However, thanks to his flustered state, he missed his chance. "Thanks, guys," Naruto turned back to running back home, "I'll see you guys later!" He called back to them as he picked up the pace. He needed to get back home quickly now.
Meanwhile, Chouji looked over to Shikamaru who was still watching the blond retreating. "Shikamaru, I thought you were going to ask Naruto to come with us to the festival."
Shikamaru nodded, "we are," he looked down at Chouji with a small smile, "but first, we have to go to the festival first"
Chouji was a little confused by that, he got to his feet, "but why? Shouldn't we be going after him to ask him? Why are we going to the festival first if we are going to ask Naruto to go with us?"
Shikamaru chuckled a little, "that's because we're going to bring some of the festivals with us when we ask him." He stated, "if Naruto sees how fun the festival is, then he's going to want to go with us. I don't know why he always rushes home on the festival day, but maybe if we bring him something nice, he might be more willing to tell us the reason." Although Shikamaru did have his doubts, he did get the feeling that Naruto needed something to brighten up his day today. A trip to the festival with both of his friends, hopefully, Naruto doesn't mind them doing this. "Come on, Chouji, let's get home before our moms throw a fit about us being late."
To be continued...