Disclaimer: Inspired by ‘One, two, buckle my shoes’. I do not own that
children’s rhyme or Naruto.
Naruto
Ripple Effects
by
YamiTsubasa
One, two, when I’m feeling blue,
It was raining. The miniature droplets fell down from the gray sky
easily, landing on the lone silhouette that was walking along a small dirt
path. The darkened sky with its shadowy and mysterious clouds were glaring down
at the figure, seemingly mocking him at his drenched, wretched state. The blond
boy merely walked on, stepping on each puddle every time, paying no heed to the
sinister nature around him. As Naruto treaded on the puddle of rainwater, the
water would seem to tremble in fear and a ripple was formed. The boy stared in
fascination, thinking how would nature be so simple, yet humans could be so
complex.
Three, four, they shut the door.
The villagers had ill-treated him over the years, not actually caring if
he was actually the vessel who contained the demon, Kyuubi, but not the
almighty demon lord itself. Naruto had already been exposed to the foolish
human beings’ brutality and yet, he still tried very, very hard to get them to
acknowledge him. But they still regarded him as something less than dirt,
always seeing him as the nine tails itself. Sometimes, the villagers did not
even care anymore. They would just live in their happy, blissful ignorance as
Naruto lived his life through hell, through the torture that Konoha had put him
through. The villagers would put a barrier between Naruto and themselves and
just get on with life. They did not give a damn about that prankster.
Five, six, I made mistakes.
Sure, Naruto always makes mistakes. But, he only did those because
nobody had actually cared what he was doing, much less his welfare. The
villagers would rather him out of sight or rather, dead. Nobody in the village
had taught him how to do almost everything. Although the third Hokage had
always visited him when he was a toddler, the old man only brought gifts for
him, and sometimes, they just talked. When Naruto grew up, he did pranks to get
people’s attention. He did not know that it would irritate the villagers and
get them to even more hate him. Naruto did not know.
Seven, eight, my masks then break.
Naruto could not stand it anymore. He could not keep up the brave front;
keep up the strong façade anymore. Sometimes, he lived in fear, fearing that
the demon may somehow take control over him and destroy the village or that the
villagers would harm him further. He could not remember much happy times, and
he was so lonely and in pain…
Nine, ten, I was trapped again.
The puddles he was stepping on kept making huge ripples, and he finally
stopped, then looked at one large puddle. The water held the boy’s reflection
and Naruto studied it for a moment. His smiles were always strained. Enraged,
Naruto stepped on the puddle and there was a ripple again.
But then…
The rain halted abruptly, causing Naruto to look up in surprise. It was
so sudden. The clouds cleared, leaving the sun looking down, with its
magnificent rays shining the entire earth. Naruto put his hand up, blocking
some of the sun’s rays and examined it, seemingly wanting to touch the sun. “I
want to live,” Naruto started out with a whisper. “I want to be happy. I want
to find my dream and make it come true.” His grin became larger and more
sincere. “Because that’s my way of ninja!”
Looking straight, he could barely conceal his shock. There they were,
standing only a few feet away from him. There were all the Rookie Nine, the
sensei of all the teams, even Gai’s team and their teacher, Iruka-sensei,
Tsunade the old hag, Shizune, Jiraiya that pervert and Konohamaru and his
friends. They stood there, smiling widely at Naruto.
One, two, although they always beat around the bush.
“Naruto, come on, what the hell are you doing down here? We’ve been
looking for you all over the place!” Kiba yelled, giving a mock glare at the
blond boy. The boy in question merely scratched the back of his head
sheepishly, grinning like the happiest man alive on earth. “Yeah, do you really
think we forgotten what day it is today?” Sakura demanded, slapping on Naruto’s
back good-naturedly. “Of course we r-remember what d-day it is, Naruto-kun…” Hinata
spoke gently, almost inaudible, tapping on her fingers nervously. “You think
we’ve forgotten it?” Shino said with ice underlining his statement, raising an
eyebrow and a chilly wind blew across the entire crowd. “Ehehe… He’s just
kidding, Naruto,” Iruka said, panicky and tense while everyone sweat-dropped.
“Yeah! ‘Cause it’s Naruto-kun’s birthday after all! It only comes once a
year! Yosh! The power of youth! You’ve grown one year older, Naruto-kun!” Lee
said, the youthful fire in his eyes.
Three, four, they actually cared for me more.
“Hahaha! It’s good to have the power of youth, Lee!” Gai yelled, causing
almost all the people present there to wince at the loud, booming voice.
“Gai-sensei!”
“Lee!”
Shikamaru shook his head, muttering, “How troublesome…” Ino glared at
him and gave a shove at Shikamaru’s chest. “It will never be too troublesome to
celebrate a friend’s birthday, isn’t it, Chouji?” Chouji merely nodded,
munching on his chips at the same time, sending sprays of chips all over. Sakura,
Shizune and Tenten giggled furiously while Neji and Sasuke ‘pfft’ in unison.
Five, six, we all make mistakes.
“Come on, we’ve a party to attend,” Kakashi drawled, beckoning everybody
to follow him. Gai and Lee were still very engaged in their youth and power
thing and Asuma was smoking, finding the whole thing pretty amusing. Tsunade,
their fifth Hokage had separated the two with her enormous strength before
saying to Naruto, “Happy birthday, Naruto.” Jiraiya winked at Naruto, waving a
small, little orange book in his hand. “Happy birthday, kid.” Kakashi’s eyes
nearly bulged out at the sight of the new version of Icha Icha Paradise.
Naruto smiled as Konohamaru shouted, “Happy birthday, nii-chan!”
Seven, eight, my smile isn’t strained.
“Yeah, let’s go!” Naruto hollered happily, jumping onto the back of
Iruka, nearly strangling the poor academy teacher. “Naruto!” “Hehe…”
Kurenai laughed, “Naruto, you don’t have to treat your teachers like that
even it’s your birthday! Come on, I will give you your present here.” With
that, the gorgeous red-eyed brunette signaled the blond genin to go to her to
receive his present.
“Huh?” Naruto asked dumbly, a confused look on his face.
“Here,” Kurenai planted a kiss on Naruto’s cheek and the boy could only
freeze up and perspire a whole lot of sweat before the
pretty teacher pulled away gently.
“Naruto’s a pervert! Look at how he’s blushing!” Sakura teased, with
everybody laughing in the background. Kurenai merely shrugged, but her eyes
remained twinkling mischievously.
“Am not!” Naruto shouted hotly, his ears turning red. Everyone laughed.
Nine, ten, they are here for me, again.
End