It Takes Just One
Naturally it just takes one. It just takes one mistake to screw something up, be it assembling something, or executing a mission. It just takes one really good idea, to lead to a series of good ideas. It just takes one glance at the features of a person’s face or actions, to determine whether one likes or dislikes the person. It just takes one wrong move to get oneself killed. It just takes one act of violation, to destroy a tower of trust. It just takes one act of something, to lead to a series of various equal and often opposite reactions.
In this case, it just took one, just one act of kindness, to brighten up the world of a certain boy. This act brought out a side in which many of the people had believed never existed. In all honesty, if it were not for the act of kindness, it may have led to the eventual mental destruction of this boy. For he was hated by all, scorned for a crime he did not commit, nor knew of. His teachers hated him for what he represented, and the children copied what the adults did, shunning him out of their world, treating him as a lower class being that was undeserving of their attention. His name was Uzumaki Naruto.
Yet no one acknowledged him as Naruto. It was always something hateful, and hurtful. Their words, full of malice, never really concerned for the well being for the boy. To them, he wasn’t a boy. He was beneath a boy. They didn’t care if his life was in shambles. If they could do anything, they’d made sure that he was dead. But law had prevented him. He had a guardian angel, and he didn’t even know it. It was the will of Sandaime Hokage who had ensured that the boy lived. However he was limited, and couldn’t protect the boy from the harshness of the village to his dismay.
For years Naruto lived in pain, never knowing love, never know friendship, never knowing kindness. Until one day, someone gave him the kindness he deserved. One day, on his 8th birthday, he received something that would forever bore into his soul. That day, he was saved from the destructive clutches of suicide.
“Uh…what time is it?” a boy muttered as he lazily rose from bed. The boy Naruto scratched his spiky blond hair as sleep starts to leave his system. His whisker birthmarks twitched somewhat as the boy muttered some incoherent words. Donned in grey pyjamas, the boy gets out of bed and walks towards his calendar, to look up the date.
October 10
The boy signed sadly as he felt his heart sank. It was the worst days of all days. It was his birthday. Normally, children at the youthful age of 8 would be excited, looking forward towards the day of presents, laughter, and the joy of hearing people say, happy birthday as they acknowledge the beginning of a new year of growing and learning for the birthday child. Such joys did not exist for him. There was nothing but pain. That was all he had, and all he ever will. A couple tears streamed down his cheek as he went about his daily morning rituals. He showered, brushed his teeth, and washed his face, the usual.
Everything felt empty as he walked into his kitchen and boiled some water. He was an orphan. Living on his own, on the top floor of his apartment building, Naruto had no one to take care of him. He had to fend for himself. No one ever really came by to see how he was doing, or to help him with anything. Sure Hokage-sama came in every so often and spent time with him. But ultimately due to his schedule, he never really could do anything long with the boy, or spend more than a few hours. Despite the fact he was trying, Naruto needed someone who could talk to him more.
Seeing that he had only about 15 minutes to get to school, he put away his dishes, dropped his towel, changed into a white t-shirt and shorts, put on a pair of sandals, and left the house. He left the door unlocked. Not that he cared. He had nothing of value. Plus he didn’t have much for people to wreck anyways. After the first time had happened a few years back, he hadn’t bothered to keep much, just enough to keep him going. Anything else would only hurt him if people destroyed such objects.
As he walked through the cold streets of his home village Konoha, people threw cold glares at him, muttering words such as, “Oh look, it’s the demon brat,” “It’s the Kyuubi no gaki,” “Why the hell is that stupid thing even out here?” or “My word, when the fuck is he going to just get out of our lives?” He felt the venom behind his words. As he dragged his feet across the dirt roads that made up the various paths along the city, people continued to stare and ridicule him.
He felt worthless. He just wanted to shout out and cry, but it did nothing. It wasn’t like someone was going to be there to be his saviour. Not even the great Hokage could save him. As he slowly approached the academy, he could already feel a sense of dread. It was bad enough that the adults had hated him, scorned him, and made him feel unwanted. And if the adult’s attitude were any indication, the words he was about to receive from the students would only be worse.
For unlike the adults, they’d beat him. Often groups of kids would get together, and during breaks or lunches, they would find him, and openly beat him. Many would form circles around the boy as they watched him get beaten and humiliated. Many would laugh, point, and sneer at the poor boy as he went through hell. No one respected him, or at least had the decency to leave him alone. Had he had that, he would be more than grateful. At least then he would believe some acknowledge him as a person.
Naruto entered the school grounds as students started to notice his presence. Many immediately scattered as they saw him approaching. Many gave him looks of hate and disgust as they walked away from him, not even sparing him a second glance. Naruto felt his heart break. They must’ve known the significance of the way. They must’ve known that today was his birthday, and this was their present to him. Some present it was, making him feel even more ridiculed than ever. That’s when he noticed it. People had openly stated their insults. Before people had whispered it, keeping it away from his ears, but today they openly attacked him. He felt so vulnerable, unable to defend himself.
He felt tears streaming down his eyes as he ran. Not looking where he was going, he ran wherever his feet took him. Not looking where he was going, he ended up colliding into a person, knocking both himself and the person onto their backs. Naruto didn’t even bother to look at the person whom he had collided as he got up and continued running. He didn’t care were he was going; he just wanted to get far away from the pain as he could.
Naruto soon found himself standing atop of the grand Hokage monument, on the top of Yondaime’s head. He was unsure, but the lingering aura of the Fourth Hokage felt strangely familiar, yet foreign to him. He was unsure of it, not that he cared. Atop, he gazed upon the village that had had called home for 8 years. Some home it was. From his perch, it looked peaceful, serene, happy, even welcoming, when deep inside, all it really was, was a village full of hateful people that hated him for what he was. But what was he that made him so greatly hated by the village, that only Hokage respects him? He wanted to know why, and yet, he felt he shouldn’t know why. He felt a powerful darkness behind the truth, and it scared him to no end.
He peered over the edge of the monument to see the flat ground below, where people stood to observe the faces. Naruto suddenly found it welcoming; to jump off the head, and end his life. The idea of ending his life seemed rather promising. No one cared for him, heck no one really knew him, except for the fact he was some sort of demon child, whatever that meant. He never bothered to find out, and to suddenly end this pain, it wouldn’t really mattered if he never found out. At least people would stop staring at him, giving cold, hard looks, as they sneered and scorned him. He took one last look upon the evil city before him. It would most likely be the last thing he would see. Naruto drew nearer to the edge of the cliff, his legs trembling as swallowed hard. It wouldn’t hurt for long; he reminded himself, and then all his pain would be over. He took a deep breath and gathered himself. One quick rush would be easier anyway; less chance of changing his mind at the last instant.
“A-ano…” a quiet voice said. “Gomen?”
Naruto spun, his face flushed with guilt. He didn’t really know why he suddenly felt ashamed. Any of the villagers would welcome news of his suicide. It was an awful thing to realize, but he had no reason to fool himself anymore. Still, something about that voice caught at his ear. He looked up, steeling himself for the inevitable glare of hatred. Perhaps someone else considered this area their personal getaway in which case, he would just jump and leave them the scenic view.
What he saw, however, stopped the bitter words in his throat, even as his eyes widened. Before him was a young girl, close to his own age. She had midnight-blue hair trimmed close around her face, and she wore a snow-white kimono. But it was her eyes that stopped him in his tracks. They were large, with pale lavender irises and no pupils. The unusual coloring wasn’t what made his breath catch in his throat; it was the fact that they held no hate for him.
If anything, she looked sorrowful. Naruto felt his stomach turn over, and he was seized with a violent desire to hurt whoever made this beautiful girl cry. “I-I’m sorry,” she said, shifting uneasily from foot to foot. “I’m sorry they were mean to you,” she elaborated. “Especially on your birthday,” she added, looking down.
“I also wanted to say, happy birthday, Naruto-kun.” Naruto felt his heart stop at those words. Someone wished him a happy birthday. Someone had actually, sincerely wished him a happy birthday. Studying her face, he could see that she was struggling to keep the tears back. If anything, she looked like she was about to cry. His stomach clenched at the thought of such a beautiful angel crying.
The girl slowly approached him, as she held out a box, wrapped in gift-wrapping, tied up with blue, reflective string, muttering, “Happy birthday,” again, with a slight blush on her face. Naruto slowly reached out and accepted the box. He could only stare at the box, teary eyed. He had never received a present in his life, and now suddenly, on his 8th birthday, someone gave him something. But a question entered his mind that he just had to ask.
“Why?” he weakly croaked, as the tears threatened to fall from his face.
“Y-you seemed lonely,” she meekly replied, as she pressed her index fingers together. “I don’t see why people hate you. You seem like a kind person to me.” Those words hit Naruto like a tonne of bricks never would. He felt something he had never felt in his entire life. He felt happy. Someone acknowledged him as a person. Not as thing, or a monster, but as a real person. He felt his heart clench in joy as tears stung his eyes. He could see the sincerity in her eyes, flooding his heart and soul with the sorrow of what he had suffered as he felt his control over his emotions crumble.
“Thank you,” he wailed as he dropped the box and hugged the girl. The girl was stunned. She only wanted to give him a present, and make him smile. She did not expect to make him cry. And yet, she felt his pain. Although she could never imagine the full extent, she felt it deep within her heart; he was in a lot of pain. With a sudden boost of courage, despite her reddened face, she hugged him back, as he cried. Whispering soothing words, the young girl held onto him as he poured his heart out. She could almost see hear his story through his cries of pain, sorrow and anguish. Never in her life had she imagined such pain or suffering, but here she was, comforting one who was in great pain. The two stayed like that for some time, as Naruto continued to cry his heart out. Finally calming down enough he shyly broke away.
“Th-thank you, uh…”
“Hinata,” she said, realising she had never introduced herself. “I am Hyuuga Hinata.”
“Uzumaki Naruto,” he weakly replied as they shook hands. Hinata giggled at his embarrassing introduction. She picked up the box, and held it out to Naruto again. He took it and looked at it for a moment, before he began to unwrap it. Despite the red nose, and tears that continued to stream down his face, she could see he was happy. She just couldn’t see how people could hate such a kind gentle boy.
Naruto gasped at the contents of the box. It wasn’t much, but it was still something. He lifted the object out and examined it closely. It was a pair of goggles. It truly wasn’t much, but the fact that she even got him anything, he felt so happy. He never felt so happy in his life. He looked up at her, and smiled widely, in which she returned. He took out the headband that came with it and put it on his head before he put on the goggles. He looked at Hinata, as he waited for a comment.
“It…it looks good, Naruto-kun,” she said, barely above a whisper.
“Hinata-chan,” Naruto croaked, “arigatou gozaimasu.”
Hinata merely smiled back as she held out her hand, “Friends?” Naruto smiled widely as he took it and shook it. Hinata did something today that she would later on be thanked for. In many years, she would learn that she had unwittingly saved his life. When the time came, she would learn that her act of kindness would be the first of many acts that would change him forever.
End
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