Chapter 2: Dream (2/2)!
2 Years Later, (Age 11)
'It turns out that making friends is even harder than studying….' Naruto reflected on his efforts over the past two years while ignoring the ongoing lecture. He had been in this class for a little over 4 years, but he had yet to make a single friend. Of course, not without trying, but everyone seemed to have an excuse for why they couldn't be friends.
The first person he attempted to befriend was a young boy called Shino Abarume because he was quiet like him. Yet even after he spent the effort to learn about the boy's favourite topic, insects. One day, the boy mentioned that his Kikaichu felt uncomfortable in his presence and that they couldn't be friends. Naruto snorted remembering that, if he hadn't wanted to be around him, he should have just said so. There was no need to lie to him about it.
Naruto had also attempted to befriend the others in the class but was met with varying obstacles or straight out refusals. A young girl called Hinata Hyuuga would always faint when he tried talking to her. He wasn't that scary, right?
At one point, Naruto had thought he had made success when he managed to hang out with Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi and Kiba Inazuka, with them all going to the park to watch clouds or play on the swings. Yet after goofing off with them a few times, they also seemed to stop wanting to hang out with him.
After the first year of trying to make friends through various methods, whether it was learning about what they were interested in, only doing what they wanted to do, or even giving gifts, Naruto shifted his goals to another event. His birthday was coming up, and he had overheard that people made friends at birthday parties.
Thankfully, the old man had given him his own apartment a few years back when he had inadvertently complained that he was being ignored by his caretakers. Maybe he could host a party, and if everyone had fun, they would be able to hang out more.
Naruto spent the rest of his time before the birthday party saving up money, to the point of not even visiting Ramen Ichiraku. He had done his best to make handwritten invitations to everyone in his class, triple-checking to ensure that he had spelt their names correctly before putting them under their desks.
Nobody said anything in class on the day of his birthday; it was like they hadn't received the letters at all. 'Maybe they are shy?' Naruto thought to himself. He could understand since he didn't even have the courage to invite them in person and could only send letters. The young boy started hyping himself up. Everyone was going to come, and he would make so many friends that he wouldn't feel lonely anymore.
Sloppily made banners decorated the apartment, which made the somewhat gloomy apartment look much nicer. After placing the food on any surface he could see, Naruto sat and waited for his first guest to arrive.
Yet after a few hours of waiting after the time specified on the invitations, nobody had turned up. Naruto looked at the birthday cake that sat in front of him. "Maybe they are running late?" The young boy said hopefully to himself.
However, as the hours went by and the food cooled, Naruto started to feel like nobody was planning on coming despite his endless optimism. 'Did I do something wrong? Why didn't they just tell me if they couldn't come?' He was a big boy now. He could take rejection. 'Especially after being rejected so many times…' a small bitter part of himself added.
In the end, Naruto silently ate the cake alone. Nobody was coming to his birthday. 'Maybe they weren't interested because it wasn't good enough?' Thinking that had hurt, but it was much better than accepting that nobody liked him. 'I'll try harder next year….' The blonde-haired boy resolved to get at least one person to attend his party next year.
For the next year, Naruto spent most of his time saving money. Occasionally, he would hunt a hare or boar in the forest and sell it to a travelling merchant to make some extra money. The day before his 11th birthday, he again sent out invitations to everyone by hiding them in their desks. He bought a bigger cake, even more food and better decorations, which were all neatly set out on the day.
Yet history repeated itself once more. Even after the increased effort he put in, nobody came even hours after the invitation time. Naruto didn't want to spend his birthday alone again, so he decided to just visit the festival.
To avoid the cold glares and whispers that seemed to follow him, Naruto covered himself up until he was unrecognisable. It was October anyways, and most people covered up at this time of year.
However, after walking around for 5 minutes, Naruto wished he had never left the house. He found out the reason why nobody came to his birthday party. He could see Sakura and Ino hanging out at one of the stalls while Shikamaru and Choji were eating at another. Naruto even saw Hinata walking alongside a taller man and a young girl that looked similar to her.
Naruto had never felt so distraught in his life, not even when he was ignored by the people at the orphanage. Of course, they didn't attend his parties because they didn't want to. What other reasons could there possibly be? They were busy?
The young boy never thought he was demanding. All he wanted was for someone to look at him just like old man Hokage did whenever he visited.
"Oi, get back here!" Naruto turned to where the voice was coming from and watched as a young child was running from what he assumed were his family or friends judging by the smiles on their faces. One thing that confused him was the fact that those chasing the boy were covered in a mixture of blue, red and green paint.
"You can't catch me. It was your fault for walking into my trap!" Giggled the young boy as he fleed into the crowd. In spite of his sadness, Naruto let a small smile slip past. The young boy threw a paint bomb at them? That sounded pretty funny.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit him. Prank? Naruto saw how much attention the boys had when running through the crowd. Even he, who wasn't in a very good mood, turned his head to look, his eyes glued to them. 'If I pranked others, will people look at me too?'
Naruto didn't care if they sent looks of amusement, cold glares or even hateful ones. As long as at least someone glanced his way, he was happy. The young boy looked at the street stalls, picking up a bucket of paint with the remainders of his money. He had enough food to last at least a week anyway.
1 Year Later (Age 12)
Naruto smiled at his latest prank that had shocked everybody. It was the first time anybody had even considered vandalising the Hokage monument, so it was never guarded. It served them right; Naruto Uzumaki did what he wanted when he wanted. "Get back here, Naruto!" Several civilians and low ranking ninja screamed as they formed a small mob, chasing him. Him!
Naruto smiled in glee. It felt great. People actually called him by name instead of 'boy' or 'you'. He had even heard someone call him 'fox brat' for some reason. He tucked that thought away, assuming it was because of the whisker marks on his face.
Naruto remembered back to the first prank he pulled; it was on one of the teachers that had been mean to him throughout the years. It was a small prank in which he added a fresh layer of paint to the teacher's chair and desk, which quickly coated the teacher's clothes as he sat down.
Eventually, the teacher signalled out that it was him, which he unabashedly admitted. Naruto subtly scanned students' reactions in the class; some looked annoyed, while some were smiling.
However, one girl, who he remembered to be Sakura Haruno, flashed a brief smile in his direction before covering her mouth. It made him feel warm and fuzzy, and he really wanted that feeling to continue. At that moment, Naruto decided that he liked the pink-haired girl and wanted to be friends with her, even though he had failed before.
Even after being shot down several times asking the girl for a date, Naruto desperately sought that feeling again. So he upped the levels of his pranks, which were slowly becoming more and more elaborate in hopes for her to smile at him once more. Initially, he targeted everyone who was mean to him over the years, but eventually, it escalated into pranking several important parts of the village.
Several days later (Age 12)
Naruto stood in a clearing as he held the Scroll of Sealing which Mizuki-sensei told him to steal as an additional graduation test after he had failed the regular one. The blonde-haired boy scanned through the techniques on the scroll. Flying Thunder God Jutsu-Shiki and space-time ninjutsu concepts. The Eight Inner Gates. Living Corpse Reincarnation. Eventually, he reached a technique called the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
Iruka-sensei mentioned that he had failed due to not being able to create a clone. So maybe if he learned how to do a clone technique even after passing the hidden graduation test, he might be promoted to a higher rank. A Super Genin? An Elite Genin?
The subsequent events seemed to blur together as Naruto slowly came to himself in the long dream he was having.
"You are the Kyuubi no Kitsune!" Mizuki screamed at him, who was guarded by a bleeding Iruka.
"He isn't the demon fox! He is Naruto Uzumaki!"
"Well done. Naruto, close your eyes."
"Those in the ninja world who break the rules are scum, that's true… but those who abandon their friends… are lower than scum.
"Why… why did they leave me?"
Dream over
After experiencing the last of the dream, Naruto awoke in a cold sweat. Was it a dream? It had to have been one. However, despite telling himself that, Naruto knew it wasn't true. Those were his memories, being far clearer than they had ever been before.
'So I am the son of that red-headed woman and the Yondaime Hokage… Minato Namikaze.' Naruto blankly stared ahead before bitterly laughing. "Hahaha, how ridiculous. There's no way."
Yet the image of Minato and the red-headed woman looking at him with nothing but love in their eyes as they whispered their last words was permanently ingrained in his mind. 'There's no way. Why? Why? Why?' Naruto's tears rolled down his face. Why did they choose him? Why did they die? Why did they leave him all alone?!
Naruto wanted to hate them for taking away his fantasies that his parents were still alive out there somewhere, not knowing that he was suffering in Konoha. That they were looking for him and missed him just as much as he missed them.
However, he couldn't. Going through his memories, he understood what he wasn't able to understand when he was moments after being born, he could hear and feel the love that they had for him. That they didn't want to leave him alone. That they didn't want to subject him to this life.
"I'll make them proud. If you are looking over me, I will become so strong that you will never have to worry about me ever again! That's a promise!" Naruto screamed to the skies, hoping his voice would somehow be transmitted to his parents in the afterlife. The blonde-haired boy rubbed his face into his orange jacket, wiping the tears from his face.
After calming down, he looked down at the rope, trying him to the log. After waking up, he remembered everything he had experienced in his life, including every word of The Eight Inner Gates Technique.
He didn't use the wrong tenketsu, the first gate, The Gate of Opening, was located in the left part of his brain. However, instead of slowly opening the gate and saturating it with his chakra, he was supposed to violently force his chakra through the gate. Resulting in a temporary increase in strength and speed. Naruto closed his eyes and checked the status of the first gate. It was still open, and there was no strain on his body at all.
It was weird because he was out for what was most likely several hours, as denoted by the darkness that surrounded him. Yet the Scroll of Sealing stated that opening the gate, even the very first gate, was supposed to cause tremendous strain on the body. Even more so for someone like him who had just graduated from the Academy.
And yet… he felt fine. Even better than fine. Did it have something to do with the way he opened the gate? The fact that he was the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune? Or maybe even the fact that he could have developed a bloodline that affected his body?
After his stomach groaned once more, Naruto decided that he would figure out the reasoning behind the changes he was currently experiencing later. All he wanted to do was escape from the ropes, eat and sleep. 'Think Naruto, think! What could I possibly do to escape?'
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration came to mind. It was a lesson that a Jonin volunteered to do a few years ago because his class was full of clan heirs and was expected to be the backbone of Konoha in the future. One-handed hand seals.
At the time, he couldn't understand it, and it wasn't an interesting lecture by any means. However, Naruto did his absolute best to pay attention to every word said and every action the Jonin performed. This was one of the top ninjas of the village. Even if it wasn't useful to him back then, it might come in handy in the future.
"The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique uses a clone seal. Therefore the one-handed version should be… This!" Naruto struggled to move his right hand into the correct seal.
Even though he had seen it before and remembered it with perfect clarity, he had never once attempted to use it. Hence, his fingers were trembling slightly, unused to the new yet awkward movement they were subjected to.
Naruto expelled a relatively large burst of chakra before a dead clone-like thing poofed into existence for a moment before disappearing. "Argggh, come on!" The trapped genin screamed in pure rage. He had to deal with making dead clones for years. He didn't want to experience it again.
After taking several deep breaths to calm himself, Naruto focused on his right hand as he subtly moved his fingers into a more standard shape. There was no reason why he would get this right on the first try. Even learning the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique took over an hour to learn.
*Poof* a dead clone appeared. *Poof* a dead clone was expelled.
It didn't take long for Naruto's one-handed clone sign to become more and more natural. The clones also started to look closer and closer to a normal shadow clone.
Suddenly, an exact replica of Naruto appeared in front of him. The clone seemed to know what its purpose was as he stuffed his hands into Naruto's ninja pouch, pulling out a slightly blunted kunai before sawing at the ropes tying the boy.
"Thanks." Naruto thanked… himself? That was weird. But the clone merely gave a grin, "No problem, boss." and dispelled himself. Suddenly, Naruto was hit with a slight influx of memories. He remembered seeing himself tied to the post, rummaging through his own pockets to retrieve a kunai before setting himself free?
"I can get the memories of my own clones?" Naruto asked aloud to himself in confusion. He never noticed it before, which wasn't surprising considering all the times he had used them were in fights.
Naruto focused, trying to remember the description of the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique stored within the Scroll of Sealing. 'Multiple Shadow Clone, A-rank supplementary technique. This technique allows the user to create a large number of copies of themselves. The user's chakra is evenly divided between themselves and their clones. See Shadow Clone Technique for dangers and additional side effects.'
"Hmm, no wonder I didn't pick up on such an awesome tip earlier." Naruto scratched the back of his head in wonder. The standard Shadow Clone Technique wasn't found within the Scroll of Sealing. Or maybe it was, but not in the first 3 techniques that he had read when looking for a cool technique in the scroll.
Just as Naruto was about to think of all the potential applications of the Shadow Clone Technique, a sudden wave of tiredness hit him. He was low on chakra, hadn't eaten in almost a day, and hadn't slept in nearly 20 hours. Hence the young genin discarded all remaining thoughts and returned home. Thankfully, Kakashi, the lazy Jonin, stated that missions wouldn't start for another day, giving him time to figure out things tomorrow.
End of Chapter 2.
Author's Notes: Obviously there are some slight changes to canon, but generally I think these are reasonable and can be explained canonically
The whole making friends thing such as Shino's Kikaichu being afraid of the Kyuubi's chakra, Hinata being too shy etc
With the birthday party, I figured it would be a good way to get the point across that he was lonely. It might seem a bit copout, but there are going to be reasons as to why people didn't turn up
The clan heirs practically have to go to the festival every year as it is one of their duties.
Hinata was with her father and sister as it is tradition or something
All the civilian students just didn't like Naruto
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