Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Shinobi Way ❯ Prologue, Part Two: Bridging the Endless Divide ( Prologue )

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, only the OC's

 

A/N: Greetings my hopefully numerous readers, here I am with another chapter. This is only my second chapter on my first fan fic ever, so please be gentle. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome!

 

Prologue Part Two: Bridging the Endless Divide

 

One 8-year old Uzumaki Naruto sat alone behind the Ninja Academy, after the very first day of school, crying by himself. From all of the books he had read, he knew that boys weren't supposed to cry, but he couldn't help himself. The Academy was no different from anyplace else; everybody seemed to hate him for no reason at all. The other children had hurled barbed comments and taunts at him, and then moved up to sticks and stones. Something about this almost made Naruto laugh, something about an old rhyme he'd heard somewhere.

 

Naruto was so engrossed in his woes that he didn't notice that another boy had walked up behind him.

 

“Why are you crying? Boys aren't supposed to cry,” the other boy said, in the innocent insensitivity only made possible by young age.

 

Naruto turned around to look at the intruder. He was a boy about his own age; in fact, he had seen him in his class that morning. He had silvery gray hair that was slicked back, and a bandanna over his eyes.

 

Naruto quickly wiped his face and all but screamed, “I'm not crying! I was just…sneezing!” Elriu, for that's who he was, quirked an eyebrow, which were visible over his bandanna. Sensing the other boy's well-placed incredulity, Naruto decided to change the subject. “Someday, I'm gonna be the Hokage of the entire village! Then everyone will recognize me and nobody will be hurt anymore!”

 

However, unlike most of the citizenry of Kohohagakure, instead of scoffing at him (for he often made this statement at random intervals to random people), Elriu smiled and said, “Hokage, huh? You go ahead and do that. You don't have to be Hokage to protect your family and friends.”

 

At this, Naruto quickly sobered again and said, “I never had a family, or friends.” Elriu started at this.

 

“Something about this seems oddly familiar…”, he thought to himself.

 

“No family or friends? That ain't right!” Elriu extended his hand to Naruto and said, “My name's Saito Elriu. How about I be your first friend?”

 

Naruto first looked rather wide-eyed, as if Elriu had just stated that ramen wasn't the greatest food known to man, but his expression quickly transformed into one of pure delight. Naruto gave a huge, foxy grin and firmly took Elriu's hand in his own.

 

“Alright Elriu, my name's Uzumaki Naruto. Let's be friends!”

 

“Yes, yes, something definitely familiar about this situation…” Elriu mused. Pointless speculation aside, Elriu smiled a smile just as idiotically happy-go-lucky as Naruto's, if not more so.

 

A/N: Hehehe… sorry for the awkward ending, I couldn't figure out how to conclude this chapter properly. Sorry for all of the flashbacks (there might be one more before I actually get started XP), but I think that they're necessary to lay the groundwork for both Elriu's relationships with the other characters, and his own personality. Anyways, thanks go to the people who reviewed (Three on the first chapter! Not bad… right?), and please continue to support me as I forge farther into this hectic and confusing world of the Naruto fandom.