Starting from the End

24. Outside Chaos... Rookie Nine

Why was he so restless? Why was he so confused? Why was he going out of his way to interact with others? Why was he even entertaining the idea of communication? Why? Why now?

Before he could wonder anymore in his mind, his empty stomach called out for actual food. He suddenly remembered that he did miss his dinner last night, as well as, he didn't have anything except water. It came as a surprise that all of them forgone the concept of food and energy bars. The tiredness over the situation pushed him to prepare the simplest and easiest breakfast he could think of, tamago kake gohan. He set the rice cooker and took out eggs, lettuce, cucumber, and tomato from the refrigerator. His mind had his thoughts, his body moved on his own, and found himself under the shower.

The cold water cascaded down his body, removing away the sleepiness that threatened to overtake him. He was tired, not because of intense training, but due to the heavy mental stress. The stress he had endured because of his teammate, who was suddenly admitted to the hospital. Last morning he saw his over-active teammate and ex-academy Sensei in the shopping district while he was doing some shopping. And he was not surprised to see them, in civilian attire, with each other after what he heard. But then in 12 hours, both had been admitted to the hospital. Shinobi's lifestyle was never without peril. And he knew that he understood that. But all of a sudden, the corridor of the hospital, the rush of the medic-nin, the wait for any news haunted him more than the silence. He was accustomed to silence for a long time. He was used to waiting. His life had become a game of waiting. But the lack of any news had made him more agitated.

He had lost his parents, family, and his clan. He lost his innocence. He had lost everything. The massacre had left him traumatized. He channeled his loneliness, grief, resentment, fear, and anger to train his body. He trained himself until he was on the verge of over-exhaustion, and sleep overtook him, escaping the nightmares which became a daily occurrence. He trained until he became the very best among his classmates. That is what they are. Only classmates. He built up such high walls around himself that others left him to be. Boys started either to tolerate him or ignore him, whereas girls started to flock around him. And he hated them, hated the situation. He did snap at them, avoided them, but they wouldn't leave him alone. So he started to ignore them. They became the backdrop to his colorless canvas.

Then there was Naruto Uzumaki. The dead-last of the class, or, one could say, the dead-last of the academy. The idiot, the crown, the prankster, the loudmouth, the untouchable, the disease, and the village pariah. When he started to come out from his haze-filled trauma, he started to observe his surroundings. He saw, he heard, and he felt the anger, disgust, and hatred for the blonde and the crack-filled personality of the same one. Because he also had those cracks, he saw them in his mirrors. The only difference between them was that he adorned the cloak of indifference, and Naruto took over the mantle of the joyous boy. They are opposite to each other in every sense. He sometimes felt envious of the blond, for his ability to stand up again and again, after every beat-up, every push-back. And he felt equally irritated over the blond's loudmouth declarations. But Sasuke avoided him also, he made... tried to make him the part of the backdrop. And he almost succeeded. But...

Then he was grouped with the same boy, with the addition of one of his biggest fan-girls. He did anticipate the result. But he also wanted the best for himself, he wanted one who wouldn't have dragged him down. If he had been given the choice, he would have chosen Shikamaru Nara and Shino Aburame as his teammates. They were not the academic best, but they were the best on their own. Most of all, they kept it to themselves. They would neither moan over him nor out of a sudden disturb his silence. But he was roped with his present teammates. And the result was a rollercoaster of unpredictability. Naruto's simple existence made him more vulnerable, emotionally. The similarity between them jarred his core. The words from the blond's mouth stormed his truths and false, his purpose. The change in the blond's attitude triggered him more than anything.