Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Insanely Yours ❯ Magnet ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Four: Magnet

 

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Quickened footsteps echoed throughout the hallway. "Naruto, are you up here?" his fathers voice came to him behind the closed door. The eight year old boy ignored him, and sat still on his floor, in front of the full length mirror that stood adjacent to him.

 

The door to his bedroom opened. "Why are you up here all alone?" Minato asked, walking over to his son and placing his hand on his shoulder. Naruto sighed and shook his head.

 

"Dad, I look stupid." He complained, while motioning towards the pointed, polka dot hat on his head.

 

Minato chuckled, before kneeling down beside him and reaching for the elastic band under his chin. He carefully pulled it off of the child's head. "No one said you had to wear it, you know." He told him.

 

The boy let out a sigh. "But, mom thinks I should wear it...I just don't like it..." he muttered. He looked up at his father. "D'you think she'll be mad if I don't wear it?" he questioned. Minato shook his head, and ruffled his son's hair.

 

"I'm sure she'll understand." The blonde man stood, and smoothed the white shirt and slacks he was wearing. "Come downstairs, everyone's been looking for you. It is your birthday party, after all."

 

Naruto stood up as well, and nodded. He took the party hat out of his father's hands, and put it on his head again. "Mom said she thought it was cute...I guess I could wear it for a little while..." Minato smiled at his son, giving his shoulder a squeeze before the two of them vacated the boy's room, and descended down the staircase. Upon entering the living room, Naruto could already hear voices, and laughing, outside. This was his birthday party, and he'd completely abandoned it.

 

He wondered if his mother was angry at him for leaving, but, as soon as he'd walked outside he realized that she wasn't upset at all. She rushed up to him and grabbed his hand before kissing his cheek. Naruto wiped the kiss away, embarrassed that his mother was still kissing his cheek like he was some baby.

 

"Everyone's been looking for you, hun. It's time to sing happy birthday!" she exclaimed, over-excitedly. She pulled the boy towards the large picnic table in the middle of their yard. Naruto could see all his friends and family gathered around the table, waiting for him to come over.

 

The small boy climbed onto the seat, sitting right in front of the large, chocolate cake. On it, it said: "Happy Eighth Birthday Naruto!" in big orange lettering. There were nine candles gathered in the center. Naruto watched as his mother leaned over him, and lit every candle with a match. She kissed his cheek again, though, this time, he didn't bother to wipe it away, for he was already preoccupied.

 

Naruto heard everyone in the backyard start to sing Happy Birthday to him, but his mind was slowly dulling their voices. His eyes were wide, and he stared at the small flames that flickered on each of the eight candles. He was hypnotized, and couldn't bring himself to look away. The flames entranced him, and a smile came over his face as he watched them sway in the wind.

 

"Make a wish sweetie." He heard his mother tell him. Naruto sat up on his knees, and instinctively blew out every single candle. As soon as the flames disappeared...a bizarre empty feeling formed in his chest...

 

Almost everyone was in the sitting room today; some were watching television, some listening to the radio. They were all slowly, but surely, becoming more comfortable with each other; of course, some, more comfortable than others. "Okay...what's the weirdest thing you've ever set on fire?" Sai asked as he came over to sit next to Naruto, draping his arm over the blonde's lap. Naruto tried to ignore this affectionate gesture, before answering the question.

 

"Hm...I think...I'd have to say, my foster mother's wig." He told him, before laughing out loud with the boy. He shook his head, remembering that event. "I hated that thing almost as much as I hated her." He looked over at Sai "What's the weirdest thing you've ever lied about?"

 

"Oh that's easy!" he said cheerfully. "I told my mother I liked girls!" Naruto couldn't help but bark out a laugh at that. Sai would lie about something like that. "Huh...she believed me too..."

 

"You're insane." Naruto said as he sighed, still laughing a little.

 

Sai smiled, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why thank you." He said, all too happily. Naruto only laughed, while Sai laid his head on the blonde's shoulder. "So, Naruto, who put you in here, huh?" he asked, out of the blue. Naruto sighed heavily.

 

"My parole officer." He muttered. Sai looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah...I'm here so I won't go to jail. Pleading insanity in court really works."

 

The black haired boy looked up at Naruto, and a sly smirk came over his features. "Huh...you're a criminal...that's pretty hot." Instantly, a pink blush came across Naruto's cheeks, and when Sai noticed it, he chuckled and smiled. "You're so adorable when you're embarrassed."

 

"Sai!"

 

The boy looked up, hearing Shizune call his name. The woman stepped out of her office, holding a clipboard in her arms. "You have a visitor." She told him. An expression that Naruto couldn't decipher flashed across Sai's face, before he plastered on a smile, and gently kissed Naruto's cheek.

 

"Catch you later blondie, gotta go." He told him, before getting off the couch. He walked over to Shizune, and she handed him the clipboard and a pen. He signed it, and then, Shizune went to the large metal door, and opened it. Naruto watched as a tall, brunette man walked into the building. As soon as he saw Sai, he walked over to the small boy, and hugged him tightly. Without either of them speaking, they both walked away from the door, and down the hallway. That struck Naruto as odd...where could they be going?

 

"That's his brother."

 

Naruto looked over, only to see none other than Sasuke standing a few feet away from him. "What?" he questioned. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

 

"His brother, that's Sai's brother. You looked curious." He told him. The blonde frowned slightly, at the fact that Sasuke had told him that he looked curious. Why had the raven been looking at him, anyway? The blonde shrugged it off, figuring he didn't care whether or not Sasuke looked at him...very much. His eyes traveled over towards the raven.

 

"You got any siblings?" he asked. A surge of unknown emotion flickered behind Sasuke's eyes, and in that moment, the raven reached into his pocket, and pulled out a cigarette. He lit it, and inhaled deeply. He offered Naruto one, but the blonde declined.

 

As he blew smoke into the air, Sasuke started to speak. "...I've got a brother." He told Naruto in a low voice. He casually sauntered over towards the blonde, and took a seat next to him on the couch. "What about you?" he asked. Naruto was a bit surprised at Sasuke's sudden interest in him, but nevertheless, he continued to carry on with this conversation.

 

"I have a step sister." He told Sasuke. The raven's eyebrows rose in curiosity.

 

"She hasn't visited you."

 

Naruto's eyes lowered slightly, as he subconsciously reminded himself of the unpleasant phone conversation with Aya. He forced the memory away, not wanting to think about it. "I'm hoping she'll come one of these days, though...she isn't very happy with me at the moment."

 

"Don't tell me she's upset because you have a mental disorder." Sasuke said to him, taking another drag from his cigarette. Naruto shook his head quickly.

 

"Not because I have the disorder...it's what I did because of it." He told the raven.

 

Sasuke eyed him inquisitively, while tapping his cigarette, letting the ashes fall to the floor. "What exactly did you do?" he questioned. Naruto shook his head, pushing back more and more horrid memories.

"...you don't want to hear about it." He stated. Sasuke only continued to stare at him. Naruto looked up at the raven-haired boy. "What?"

 

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to hear about it."

 

Naruto almost smiled at that, yet, he remembered what Sasuke was asking him. To speak about what he'd done to land himself in a place like this. The blonde took a deep breath, raking his fingers through his hair slowly, before he started to speak. "Well...a few months ago...I set a fire; a big fire...almost a quarter of a forest was destroyed. It was all over the news...I even had to go to jail for a month...it was really messed up."

 

"I knew I'd seen you somewhere." Sasuke stated. Naruto looked up at him, questioning his words. "On the news, you were all over it. I remembered your face." As soon as Sasuke had made his statement, Naruto instantly covered his face with his hand, while a blush slowly washed over his cheeks. Sasuke stared at him, a bit confused. "Something wrong?" he questioned.

 

Naruto nodded his head, sighing. "It's a little embarrassing to know that someone remembers your face from a criminal segment on the news." He mumbled. Sasuke let out a short laugh, looking away from Naruto briefly.

 

"Are you bothered by it?" he questioned, causing Naruto to look up at him. A smirk slowly spread across his face. "Care to change my views on you?"

 

...The blonde was beginning to think that the blush on his face would be stuck there for the rest of time.

 

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Naruto slowly followed behind Shizune, who led him down the hallway, straight to that sole oak door between so many white ones. She stopped in front of the door, opened it, and allowed the boy to walk in. Of course, she did not follow him. Upon entering the room, Naruto saw Tsunade motion for him to take a seat, as she straightened her crescent shaped spectacles.

 

He walked towards the oversized red couch, and sat down. He didn't lay back; because it made him feel like he was seriously insane...he didn't like that feeling. Apparently, Tsunade was looking over some sort of files, and she didn't speak to Naruto until she'd stuffed them all back into a folder, and into the bottom drawer in her desk. The old woman looked up at the boy, and inhaled deeply.

 

"So, Uzumaki, how are you? Have you successfully settled in?" she asked him. Naruto nodded quickly.

 

"Yeah, everything's fine." he answered.

 

"Have there been any problems?" the woman questioned.

 

Naruto shook his head. "Nope, no problems at all." Tsunade straightened her glasses once again.

 

"Good, good." She started. "I wanted to let you know that your parole officer, Morino Ibiki, has requested to visit with you soon. I assume you've been told that your progress here is being examined, and observed by the court system." The woman told him. Naruto nodded again.

 

"Yeah...Morino did mention something like that." He agreed. Tsunade reached into that drawer in her desk, and slowly pulled out a file. Naruto already knew that it was his. She opened it, and removed a sheet of paper, and then handed Naruto a pen.

 

"I'll need you to sign these release forms, saying you've agreed to see our therapist." She said to him.

 

Naruto reached across her desk, and grabbed the paper. All of the places where he needed to sign were marked with an X. He quickly filled out the paper, and then handed both it and the pen back to Tsunade. She returned it to his file, and then clasped her hands together on top of the desk.

 

"Our therapist's name is Hatake Kakashi. He is a very kind, intelligent man, and just like the rest of my staff, he is only here to help you. You will have your first meeting with him tomorrow afternoon."

 

The boy nodded his head. "Oh, okay then." He said. Apparently, Tsunade had told him all he'd needed to know, because immediately after, she told him he could leave her office. He did so, and surprisingly, Shizune was not outside the door waiting for him. Naruto was a bit relieved; knowing that she hadn't waited maybe meant that she actually trusted him.

 

By now, it was somewhere after noon, two or three, Naruto hadn't really kept track. The light from outside shone through the barred windows, and suddenly, the blonde wished he was outside. It felt like he hadn't been out there in such a long time, and he yearned for the feeling of the sun on his skin, the breeze in his hair...he wanted to feel alive. Because in this place, he felt dead...like the whole world had locket him away and forgotten about him. It was an empty feeling...he knew exactly how to get rid of it, but if he pulled a stunt like that, he would most definitely land himself in jail.

 

"Oi, Uzumaki."

 

Naruto pulled his eyes away from the window, and towards the source of the call. He immediately saw that it was Shikamaru. "Hey, what's up?" he questioned. He beckoned the boy forward.

 

"Come on, Shizune's letting everyone outside for a bit." He stated. "From the way you were staring out of the window, I can tell you want out." A lopsided grin came over the boy's face.

 

"Hah, yeah. I guess." He said as he went towards his roommate. Shikamaru didn't walk towards the front door, and instead, he walked towards the back of the building. Naruto heard many sets of footsteps, and figured that they were getting close to wherever they were headed. Suddenly, the blonde saw Shizune standing at the door, holding it open while clutching her clipboard to her chest. There were two men standing next to her, one, Naruto remembered, whose name was Iruka. The other, had brown hair, a bored expression on his face, and a toothpick in his mouth. Naruto didn't know his name.

 

The light from outside spilled into the hallway, almost blinding the boy as he walked out. As soon as Naruto took his first step outdoors, he inhaled the air deeply, letting it fill his lungs. It felt so good to be outside, in the open.

 

What Naruto believed to be the oversized backyard of the building, was something that he'd not imagined. What he had envisioned, was a barren, empty asphalt area, with a metal fence that had barbed wire all over it. That was what he had expected. What he got, was entirely different. It was a mostly grassy area, though; it did have a fence, but no barbed wire. There was so much space, and many trees; the entire scene was very relaxing. It was like something from a dream, the perfectly green grass, and large, beautiful trees with colorful flowers sprouting everywhere. It was calming.

 

Naruto watched as everyone separated off into their own groups, all sitting in the grass, conversing with each other like they normally would. He looked to find Shikamaru, but, he wasn't surprised to see that the boy had taken a seat against a tree, and fallen asleep. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Shizune.

 

"This place...it's for relaxing purposes. They call it the sanctuary...I'm sure you can see why." She said to him, while he only nodded.

 

"Yeah...I see." He muttered.

 

Gently, the young woman pushed him forward. "Go on, relax. You seem a little tense." She told him; she was right. Naruto nodded, and walked out. He sat against a tree, which was a long way from where everyone else was. The boy breathed deeply, and stared up into the open blue sky; he wished he could stay right here, forever, it was tranquil, almost soothing.

 

Eventually, Naruto let himself lay against the ground on his back, and he closed his eyes, enjoying the quiet. He hadn't felt this relaxed since he'd arrived at this place.

 

"...Uzumaki Naruto, right?"

 

Naruto's eyes opened quickly, only to be looked up at someone he hadn't ever expected to speak to him. He nodded his head. "Yeah..." he said. The redhead came, and sat down a bout a foot away from Naruto.

 

"I had to ask, because I'm not good with names." He stated, while taking a drag from the cigarette he was smoking. Naruto crinkled his nose; he didn't want to get the urge to smoke one, since he'd not had one all day. He continued to gaze up into the sky though, he could swear, the entire time, Gaara was staring at him. "Your eyes...they're the same color as the sky." The redhead stated.

 

The blonde, who was a bit surprised, just plastered a smile on his face. "Um, thanks." He told him.

 

In a matter of minutes, Naruto began to realize that he would never, ever get a moment alone. After Gaara came over, Sai had come as well. And after Sai, Sasuke joined them, and then Haku, and then Shikamaru and Kiba, and then Sakura. Even Neji came over, dragging his cousin Hinata along. By the time they'd been out here for fifteen minutes, everyone had gathered around the blonde.

 

 

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Peace & Love: DizziKatz