Naruto : Monsters: Chapter 11

"…What are you doing?" he repeated again, no longer even trying to hide his bewilderment. Though I could no longer see him I had no doubt that his mask slipped off again.

"I'm unworthy to even look in your general direction my lord," I explained and lowered my head in respect.

...

I was going to wear a paper bag over my head when this was all over.

Now you had to understand while part of the reason I'm behaving this way was because I genuinely enjoyed messing with people, a hobby I began to develop in an effort to fight off the boredom that came in a world without an internet connection or television and only handful of decent fictional novels being published a year.

But part of the reason was that this was the Itachi damn it! I think the only ninja that surpassed him was the first Hokage 'sit your ass back down I'll deal with you later Madara' Hashirama himself.

Well, that, and a scary Itachi was scary. Go figure. Given the choice between facing an angry Itachi after pressing his little brother button or channelling my inner preteen-fanboy in public and risk dying from embarrassment later I knew which one I 'd chose.

From the edge of my eyes, I caught sight of Kou, who just stared at me wide-eyed before finally reaching for his flask and taking a long swallow from it. Poor bastard was going to have a hell of a time explaining this to Hiashi. A shell-shocked Neji just stood beside him, his face turning to a shade of white so pale it looked like snow.

Now that I think about it, a lot of people were looking at me weirdly at the moment.

No wait, I was wrong. Not everyone was staring at me.

Off to one side, a large group of anxious parents were huddled together. They were trying to catch sight of something in the distance, some of them standing on their toes to peer over the heads of the crowd. 

A worried mother muttered silent prayers while casting anxious glances ahead, not relaxing even as her husband placed a comforting arm around them, though he too could not hide the fear in his eyes. And the couple weren't the only one. I could see the same anxiety mirrored in other parents in the crowd.

Even from here, I could almost taste their terror.

What were they doing?

Tracing their line of sight, I tried to figure out what it was they were looking at. It was then that I caught sight of it.

It shimmered in the air like threads of sunlight.

It was there just for a second, a flash of yellow hair, and then it was gone, hidden behind the thick milling crowds of the students.

Something in me turned cold as I caught sight of it, as if a bucket of water was thrown over my head, and suddenly the world wasn't funny anymore. It was only a single glimpse, but everything changed because of it.

Don't try to live so wise.

That haunting melody, drifting in and out of my thoughts, echoing like a half-forgotten memory.

Ah, I remember now.

"Excuse me." I rose to my feet and walked in the direction of where I last caught sight of it. Voices called out from behind me but I couldn't bring myself to care enough to listen.

My footsteps were slow and unhurried as I made my way through the crowds, easily weaving between the milling bodies. And the closer I grew, the more glimpses I would catch. 

A flash of orange clothing, whisker marked cheeks, a smile stretched so wide it looked like it hurt. Never more for a moment, nothing more than a glimpse before I lost sight of it, hidden from my view once again.

Soon the words reached my ears.

Go away – Mum told me to keep away – What are you doing here, nobody wants you here – Don't get closer, you'll get eaten – No I don't want to be your friend.

But two words were repeated over and over again.

Monster

Kyuubi

That's right, the Kyuubi was never kept secret in this world was it?

And at last, I was past the densest part of the crowd and I could finally see what was happening.

A line of children formed a semi-circle near one edge of the courtyard, all of them facing in. And in the middle of the children, there was one who stood alone.

That was the very first time that I caught sight of him.

His hair was a little bit longer than he would wear it later in life but it was still in that unmistakable mess of yellow spikes. Ocean-Blue eyes peered out of a whiskered face and a blue shirt peaked out beneath his orange jacket.

Through it all, he just smiled.

Taunts, jeers, insults, they fell on him like the rain and he met them all with a smile. Clowning around as if the words didn't hurt, as if their actions didn't pain him.

Don't dry with fakes or fears

When I watched that scene, I felt overcome by…

Irritation.

Irritating, it was so fucking irritating. What the hell did you think you were doing?

Instantly the cold that had taken hold of me disappeared, replaced by a fire, burning away all traces of the chill left behind.

My footsteps grew faster, steadily increasing until I all but sprinted towards them

What the Hell! Seriously? What the bloody Hell!

My hand clenched into a fist as I neared the ring of children.

One of the kids, a brown-haired boy of six, must have heard me coming because he turned around, his eyes widening in shock when he saw me charging straight at him. When I was but a pace away I cocked my arm back, putting all my weight behind the punch. The boy, too late to do anything, stumbled back in fear-

Grit your teeth brat!

-Only to blink in surprise as I ran straight past him.

Naruto barely had enough time to catch sight of me before my fist ploughed into his face. The blow was so strong that it knocked him straight off his feet, sending him tumbling onto the ground.

Unlike with Sasuke, I felt no satisfaction in punching him, no joy, just a sense of frustration so strong that it bordered on rage. As I glared down at his fallen form I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I was panting and barely held myself back from hitting him again.

"What are you doing? What the hell do you think you're doing?!" I screamed out at Naruto from where he lay on the ground, his confusion was so evident on his face that it might as well have been painted on.

"Wha-huh?" He stammered out as he tried to push himself back up, but I didn't let him. When it looked like he was about to get to his feet I leapt, barreling into his waist, knocking him back onto the ground and quickly straddling his waist.

Gripping the front of his shirt I dragged his face up to my own and glared down into his confused eyes. "Why are you smiling? Why the hell are you even laughing? You're not supposed to do that!" Pulling my head back, I quickly brought it back down.

My forehead smashed painfully onto his, it hurt so much that I saw stars and had to grit my teeth to stop myself from yelling out. Naruto, however, didn't try to restrain himself and let out a scream of pain.

"Yes, that's how you're supposed to react." I smiled down at the teary-eyed boy, ignoring the way my blood dripped off of my forehead and dripped down onto his cheeks. When I finally saw him looking back up at me and was certain that I had his attention, I continued speaking. 

"It hurts, doesn't it? Getting hit? When someone hits you it hurts, it's supposed to hurt. It's so painful that you want to break out into tears and cry. That's what you're supposed to do when you're in pain kid. You're not supposed to smile, damn it!"

I raised my fist and was about to bring it smashing down onto his face again when I felt something shift beneath me. 

The next thing I knew the entire world was flipped upside down as I was sent flying through the air, only to feel pain erupt from my back an instant later as I came crashing back down to the ground so hard that it knocked the air out of my lungs.

Stunned for a few seconds as my body fought for air, I laid on my back and took a couple of deep breaths before flipping myself over and pushing myself onto my feet, though I needed to keep my hands on my knees to steady myself. When I finally bothered to look up I quickly discovered that Naruto too had risen back onto his feet.

And he was no longer smiling.

He looked angry.

...

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