'Thoughts'
"Normal Dialogue"
(Word Count: 1,770)
~ Within Konoha ~
The streets of Konoha were alive with celebration. Lanterns swayed in the gentle breeze, illuminating the night for the village's occupants. The 10th anniversary since the Kyuubi attack was a time for remembrance, a time for festive celebrations as laughter echoed through the streets.
But for Naruto Uzumaki, it was another reminder that he did not belong.
Naruto sat alone on a rusted swing located behind his run-down apartment. The faint creak of the chains was the only sound he could hear in the night, a pitiful melody that accompanied his loneliness.
He kicked at the dirt absently, trying to forget the stares and whispers he was subjected to earlier in the day.
"Why is he still here?"
"The Hokage protects that thing?"
"You're a monster."
"It's his fault. . . all of it."
Naruto clenched his fists, nails biting into his palms. He could not understand why they hated him, why they looked at him with such contempt. He wanted to scream, to shout and make them see that he was just a kid, not some monster.
But he knew it wouldn't matter, nothing changed over the past 10 years. Sighing, Naruto made to stand up to return to his apartment to call it in for the night.
Then it happened.
The first rock hit his arm, a sharp sting that made him yelp.
"Hey!" He cried, leaping off the swing and turning around. "What was that for?!"
No one answered, but he could see shadows moving at the edge of the playground. And then another rock flew, this one striking his leg.
"Stop it!" He shouted, panic rising in his voice.
But the shadows did not stop. They grew. Figures emerged from the darkness – men, women, even a few shinobi who stumbled about, clearly drunk and wasted. Some held farming tools, others brandished broken glass bottles. Naruto could see it in their eyes, the hatred they each held for him.
"You think you can sit here like you belong?" A man stepped forward, his tone filled with disgust. "After what you did to us?!"
"I didn't do anything!" Naruto yelled, slowly backing away. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"LIAR!" A woman shrieked, her tone a mix of anguish and hatred. "You killed my husband! You killed my son!"
Naruto froze. Her words struck him like a physical blow.
"I. . . I didn't. . . I'm not. . ." He struggled. He could not recall ever killing anyone, let alone interacting with anyone from the village. The only people who would even volunteer to be in his presence were the Hokage and the old man and his daughter who owned a ramen shop.
"You're a monster!" Another voice roared. "You wear it's face!"
The mob had enough of waiting and began rushing towards him. Naruto's survival instincts kicked in, and he turned on his heel, sprinting away as fast as his legs could carry him.
He knew he would not be safe in his apartment. So he ran.
He ran blindly through the streets as his small feet pounded against the cobblestone ground, his breaths coming in shallow gasps. Behind him, the angry shouts of villagers grew louder.
"Don't let it escape!"
Naruto's mind raced. 'Why are they doing this? What did I ever do to them?'
He darted into a narrow alley, only to skid to a halt. A shinobi stood at the other end, his kunai glinting in the moonlight.
"Got you now, demon." The man sneered.
Naruto backed away, but the mob was already closing in from behind. Trapped.
"Please!" He begged, tears forming in his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking abo-"
"Shut up!" The shinobi barked, walking forward. "You think we don't see the truth? You're a plague on this village. You should be dead, like those people you killed."
Before Naruto could react, the shinobi was already upon him and grabbed a handful of his hair, lifting him up. His eyes widened when he saw the shinobi preparing to slash him with his kunai.
Twisting desperately, the blade sliced Naruto's cheek before he kicked out wildly, catching the shinobi's knee. The shinobi grunted in pain, momentarily losing his grip of Naruto. Taking advantage of the momentary pause, Naruto immediately scrambled past him, opting to bolt straight into the forest instead.
The mob hesitated at the treeline, their torches flickering uncertainly. Some shouted after him, but they didn't follow. However, unlike the civilian villagers, a few shinobi stepped into the forest leisurely, like hunters enjoying the hunt of their prey.
Naruto ran until his legs gave out. He collapsed beneath an ancient oak, his chest heaving, blood trickling from the cut on his cheek. The forest was silent save for the sound of his ragged breaths and the distant rustle of leaves.
For a moment, he thought he might actually cry. But no tears came. Instead, he looked up at the moon. He leaned against the gnarled roots of the ancient oak, clutching his knees to his chest.
'They'll never stop.' He thought bitterly. 'No matter what I do, they'll always hate me'.
He stared into the endless sky, thoughts filling his mind. Thoughts he did not want to have, Thoughts about power, about fear, about becoming something they couldn't hurt.
"If they want a monster. . ." He whispered. Every crack of a branch, every whisper of leaves in the wind made his heart ache. He was alone. Truly, utterly alone.
And then he heard it – the faint sound of voices.
Naruto's blood ran cold. His breath hitched as he tried to press himself further into the tree's roots, his body instinctively shrinking as if he could disappear.
Suddenly, a kunai whizzed past him, embedding itself in the tree trunk inches from his head. Naruto cried out, stumbling as the ground seemed to tilt beneath him. He turned, wide-eyed, to see three figures stepping out from the shadows. Their hitai-ate reflected the light from the moon, showing the symbol of a swirl shaped as a leaf.
They stalked toward him in formation. A girl with sharp eyes and a sneer stood behind, beside a burly boy with fists already clenched. The third, the one in the lead, was a tall man, his face twisted in a smirk. However, what caught Naruto's attention was what the leader was wearing.
A flak jacket.
'Chūnin.' He thought dreadfully.
"Found you, freak." The leader said, his tone filled with mockery.
Naruto staggered back, not realizing he was cornering himself further. "I- I didn't do anything! Please, just leave me alone!"
The girl snorted. "Oh, we know you didn't do anything. But that's not the point, is it? The point is, you shouldn't even be alive."
"Monsters don't get to beg." The burly one added.
"Now guys, remember. The man said not to kill him. But he didn't say anything about beating him to an inch of death." The leader spoke, his smirk growing more sinister.
Naruto turned to run, but came face to face with the trunk of the ancient oak, realizing that he could not escape.
"Where do you think you're going, huh?" The leader mocked, grabbing Naruto by the collar and hauling him up. "You think you can just run away from us? From what you did to the village?"
"I didn't-" Naruto's protest was cut short as the leader's fist slammed into his stomach. The pain was unlike anything he felt before. He had always been beaten by civilians and the kids his age, but never a fully-fledged Chūnin.
The leader let his grip go, allowing Naruto a momentary relief.
"Shut up!" The girl snapped, kicking Naruto in the gut with enough force to send him sprawling into the dirt. His pain receptors flared higher, causing him to double over, gasping for air.
"You don't get to talk. You don't get to breathe."
Naruto tried to crawl away, but the burly one grabbed him by the ankle and yanked him back. He stomped down hard on Naruto's back, pinning him to the ground.
"Don't worry, we're not going to kill you. But this will hurt. This will hurt a lot." He taunted.
Blows rained down on Naruto – punches, kicks, strikes that left his small body writhing in agony. His only saving grace were the fact that none of his tormentors were using any jutsu.
His vision began to blur as tears mixed with blood. He tried to scream, but his voice was weak, choked by sobs and pain.
"Help. . ." He whimpered, his voice barely registering as a whisper. "Somebody. . . Please. . ."
But no one came.
Naruto's strength faded. His body went limp under the onslaught, and the edges of his vision darkened.
"Not so tough now, huh?" The leader belittled, crouching down beside him. He grabbed a handful of Naturo's hair, lifting his battered face to meet his eyes. "You think the Hokage's protection makes you safe? Guess again. You will never be safe. You will never belong here."
Naruto's lips quivered. "Why. . .?"
The leader smirked, slamming Naruto's face into the dirt. "Because you're a monster. And monsters don't get to ask questions."
The blows stopped, and the three shinobi stepped back.
"Leave him." The leader said. "We've done our job. Maybe he'll finally learn his place."
They disappeared into the darkness, their laughter fading into the night.
Naruto laid there, broken and bleeding. The forest was silent once again.
'They're right.' He thought dimly, the pain clouding his mind. 'I don't belong here. I never did.'
He tried to move, but his body refused. His eyes slowly fluttered shut, the world slipping away from him.
And as the shadows closed in, a faint voice echoed in his mind. A voice that did not belong to the villagers, the mob, or the shinobi. It was deep, filled with malice and power.
'I'm finally free.'
Before his vision faded into complete darkness, Naruto caught a glimpse of a man. The man was covered in bandages, supported by a cane as he walked towards him.
"Heh, Hiruzen is a fool. To think he could hide your lineage from me? Did you know your parents' dying wish was to have you be remembered as a hero? And yet the old fool chose to isolate you instead." The man mocked. "Now, you belong to me."
However, unexpectedly, instead of saving Naruto from the brink of death, the man only got to witness Naruto's dying breath.
'I just. . . want to find family.'
Naruto's thoughts echoed in his mind as his consciousness slowly faded. The darkness finally claiming him.
~ End of Chapter 01 ~