Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Paper Hearts ❯ Smile Again ( Chapter 1 )

Paper Hearts

Smile Again.

 

The Academy was pink that day.

 

Naruto doesn't like pink. Pink is a girly colour. It's only good when it makes him laugh.

 

Or on Sakura. It is good on Sakura, very good. Shiny and bouncy and... And... Sakura.

 

Suddenly, the pink Academy stopped feeling revolting.

 

He bursts into class, a goofy grin on his face, mop of blonde hair uncombed and unruly, blue eyes bright with anticipory excitement. He knows why the Academy is pink, it's because today's the day when people get all mushy, and funny-eyed, and stuff their faces with chocolates. It's the day he loves because he can snitch all the fancy candies from the stores and taste- What do people call it? Oh yeah!- and taste what love tastes like.

 

It is Romance Day, and today he will share the taste of love-filled chocolates with a lovely girl.

 

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!" Spying the lovely girl surrounded by a cluster of red-and-pink-clad children, he bounds over, yelling her name as though she is on the other side of a wide chasm. "Sakura-chan!" He grins at her skeptical face- She's just confused, she hasn't tasted the candies, no- and launches into a highspeed explanation of what a wonderful time they will have today: "Sakura-chan! It's Lovely Day! Come on, come on, I'll show you the candies and the chocolates and you'll taste the happy in them it's really good it's like better than sweet beans and and and then we can go and get some ramen at the Ichiraku maybe they'll have some speciallovelyfillingtoo-"

 

"Leave me alone, Naruto-baka!" She huffs, scowling at him. She walks away amidst a herd of giggles and bows, leaving the crestfallen boy to stare at her back.

 

He bows his head.

 

"Alright, class, take your seats, come on!"

 

Their sensei is talking, but Naruto cannot hear him, his ears are plugged by the white noise of rejection, fallen hopes and crushed dreams.

 

He was so excited. He hadn't ever gotten a chance to spend Heart Day with anyone, nobody to share the candies with, nobody to tell how gross it was to see Iruka-sensei and some girl getting all mushy... And today, today he was going to get to spend the day with Sakura- Sakura would laugh at his jokes and smile at him, give him chocolates, and they were going to be happy together today, happy happy happy, not crying, not cold, not lonely, no, no, you couldn't be lonely if you had someone to share the happy with...

 

"Oi, move it!"

 

Naruto swerves just in time to dodge the horde of girls flocking toward Sasuke- A writhing mass of pinks, reds, lattice and sloppy hearts- and glares at the other boy. Sasuke has it all, a big family, popularity, and he isn't dead last in anything.

 

Naruto sees what he wants to be.

 

He walks away, hands in his grass-stained pockets, head bowed. He doesn't belong here. Not in this picture. He'll go and snitch some love-chocolates all for himself. Or, maybe someone will notice him if he throws a big enough tantrum, maybe they will share their happy candy with him, maybe... Maybe...

 

Walking past a trio of snickering girls and to his coat-hook, he sees a note taped to his shoes. He picks it up, it is pink- Like Sakura!- and sparkly. It reads, in sloppy, curly writing that could only be a girl's,

 

"Meet me at the targitz. I want yuu to b my Valntiny."

 

Naruto is ecstatic.

 

He dashes out of the classroom without a second thought, and arrives at the target practice out of breath. Chest heaving, azure eyes frantically search his surroundings for even the tiniest hint of pink. Sure enough, there is pink everywhere, but none of it is Sakura-pink. He is positive.

 

"She is on her way," he tells himself, "she will be here and we will share Heart Candy Day together."

 

Minutes pass, and the impatient child paces the field, waiting and waiting, careful not to stray too far from the area, and then he sees it-

 

Sakura-pink.

 

It is on the far side of the practice area. He runs to her, faster than his legs can take him because he's joyful with the prospect of Sakura and happy candies, and yells out her name-

 

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan! Sa-"

 

He freezes because she isn't looking at him, she doesn't even notice him. She is looking- With very pretty green eyes- at another boy, another boy... He can see how she feels through those gems of emerald, can see the admiration and love in them, he recognizes these emotions because it's what he feels whenever he looks at her, and seeing it in her eyes makes the world sharper, more focused. Seeing her direct those feelings to someone else makes the world darker, makes the grass turn yellow and the sky turn red, makes his sight go from amazingly clear to blurry- He knows, he knows, she doesn't want to spend today with him, doesn't want to laugh with him or share with him, she's after someone else and he's nowhere in the picture...

 

Naruto runs.

 

He runs, and runs, and runs some more, not knowing where he's going- Not caring where he's going- blinded by the tears flowing from his eyes. He ignores an odd-looking man who seems to have gone through a beating, is oblivious to the stares and looks from the villagers, yet their glares and whispered comments are defeaning. All the while he sees Sakura- Sakura!- hating him, Sakura- Sakura!!- spending the day with another boy, Sakura- He had hoped so dearly for her!- laughing and eating heart-shaped confectionary with someone else...

 

And then he sees Naruto- "Dead last!"- getting reprimanded for trying to steal candy, Naruto- "Thieving brat!"- going home to an empty house and rotting food, Naruto- "Naruto-baka!"- alone at home, alone on the happy-loving day, alone on stormy nights, alone, alone, alone, alone...

 

"N-Naruto-san?"

 

He looks up through his bangs to find a girl- Not Sakura- nervously watching him, her hands behind her back. Her silvery eyes are odd, but not frightening, in fact, Naruto forgets momentarily about Sakura-pink and is entranced by this girl-silver- But only for a moment, a short, motionless moment, and then the force of the day's disappointments come back with the force of a bullet, and he feels the tears running down his cheeks again- No, no, it's stupid to cry, I'm stupid to cry...

 

"Would y-you... W-Would you like some cho-chocolates?"

 

He freezes, staring at the girl who smiles shyly underneath her dark bangs, holding out a heart-shaped box wrapped in reds and pinks, but the pink isn't Sakura-pink, and Sakura isn't here, what's here is the girl, the kind, kind girl-

 

"Will you share them with me?" he blurts out, wide-eyed and extremely serious. The girl looks a bit startled at his request, but she gives him a small smile- A happy smile- and nods. He grins today, a positive grin, a settled grin, and she sits beside him. Together, they open the box, ripping off the shiny pinks and flowery reds, and he scarfs a handful of candy.

 

The girl laughs- A quiet, tinkling, melodious noise.

 

He stops everything for a minute, and sees himself now, laughing with someone, sharing candies with someone, just sitting with someone and that someone smiles at him, smiles for real, for him.

 

Naruto is not alone. Naruto is spending Valentine's Day with someone. Naruto is happy.

 

Naruto smiles again.