Red circles

1.

5 in the morning. The alarm clock was in time (as always) and successfully woke the little boy up.

After regaining consciousness, he sat up on the bed and stared at the wall next to him, thinking about everything.
Then, he got up and lazily went to the kitchen and opened the fridge.

 "Ah, I forgot that the milk is expired," He thought.

That didn't stop him, though.
He reached for the carton and quickly drank the sluggish milk, not caring about the taste; he was more worried about today's Academy.

Every day at school, he plays a prank on his teacher, Iruka-sensei, much to the teacher and the classmates' annoyance.
Naruto didn't enjoy doing that too, but that was the only way for him to gain attention from anyone.
He desperately wanted to stop doing that, but the way he craved attention was so strong that he was unable to control his actions.

Naruto's POV:
"I don't see the point in coming there. It's just the same every day anyway: all the useless tests, which I fail, classmates, that hate me, Iruka-sensei... "

— I disappointed him, didn't I...-I said out loud, realizing.

I felt so much guilt at the moment I could cry.
The familiar feeling of a lump in my throat came back.

I told him I was going to change, but I didn't keep my promise.

I did not keep the promise.

Again.

Why am I like this?
Why can't I do something so easy?
Everyone could do that, but not me.

I sat on the floor, empty ramen cups surrounding me.
I hid my face in my hands and tried not to cry; I'm not a crybaby. Even if my age is only a single digit, I am still too old for crying.

I tried my best to calm down and stop thinking about those sad thoughts, but they just kept ramming in my head endlessly; Why can't I keep any promise?

Am I not trustworthy?
Am I an attention whore?
Am I a disappointment?

I got overwhelmed trying to answer the questions in my head. There was too much of them.
Instead of sitting, I laid down on the floor and soon my vision went blurry, then I felt something warm streaming off my face. I'm crying. I'm pathetic. I'm crying again.

....

I don't know how long it has been. The only thing I know is I vomited because of the expired milk. I only vomited once, which is a new record.
After a while, I managed to get up and look at the old clock on the wall.
The time was 7:28.
That meant I still had a bit more than 30 minutes to go to the Academy and not be late.
I had to shower, though, because I smelled of fresh vomit and old ramen.

...

When I left my house, it was about 8 am.
I don't care if I'm going to be late, no one cares about that either. The only one who cared was-
—" NARUTO!"- yelled Iruka-sensei loudly.- "WHY ARE YOU LATE AGAIN, NARUTO?!"- he yelled again, coming closer to me.

I wasn't surprised by that, but did he really have to yell so loudly? It reminds me of bad memories.
Plus, I'm not even late by much, only a few minutes.
—" Good morning to you too, Iruka-sensei!"- I said with my "usual" tone, putting my hands behind my head and turning to go to my desk.
-" Naru- eh, never mind. Let's just continue the class. As I said..."-
I don't remember what he said next, because I fell asleep.
Again.
A rush of guilt came over me when Iruka-sensei woke me up gently after the class ended.

-" I know you're not going to listen to me. You're not obligated to, I'm not your parent or anyone who could compare. But as your teacher, I want what's best for you, and the best for you is to finish the Academy as well as the others. For a long time, I believed that what was inside of you defined you, but now I realize that you're still Naruto. People will never fully accept you until you achieve something. Please, Naruto, don't disappoint me again."-
After saying that, he quickly got out of the classroom, leaving me and my half-conscious mind alone.

After putting all the words together and fully understanding what he said, I remained in the same position I had been in for the past hour and closed my eyes, analyzing every word he had said.

What's inside of me? And why
would Iruka-sensei define me because of that?
And also... "Disappoint me again"...
The more I analyzed, the more the lump in my throat grew.

It was a success that I didn't cry. Maybe I am progressing through something after all.
Speaking of progress, I realized that I didn't do anything to get anyone's attention yet.
Was I happy because of that?
No, I can't feel happiness.
Was I satisfied?
Yeah, you could say that.
Did I also feel lonely because I couldn't get any attention today? Unfortunately yes.
I debated whether I should or shouldn't do something dumb today.
-"Just this one more time, it would be weird if I suddenly stopped being the clown of the class, right? Everyone would miss that, haha!-" If I smiled at that moment, my smile would drop anyway.
I knew I was lying, no one would miss my annoying actions.

Wait.

Would anyone even miss ME?

My eyes widened at that thought.
The exact question is not something that I've thought of before.
This question hurt me the most of all the other ones.
Why? Because I knew the answer instantly.
The answer was buried in the back of my mind. I knew it more than anything else.

No

No one
would miss me
Everyone would be glad if I left.

My eyes started watering, and I knew I was about to cry. I didn't, fortunately, because the second lesson started and people started coming to the classroom and going to their seats.
I was already in my seat, so all I did was watch a few girls argue over their seats next to Sasuke.

Sasuke.
Everyone knows him, almost everyone loves him.
Do I love him or hate him? I don't know. Some time ago I would say I absolutely hated him, but since his clan got murdered I gained some sympathy for him. It sounds cruel, but hey, that's how life is, isn't it?
It might be weird how I'm so grown up for my age, but I'm not surprised by that.
I've always been alone, after all. I learned how to live alone because I never experienced living with someone.

My thoughts were interrupted by someone's voice. I recognized that it was Iruka's.
He was talking to someone behind the closed doors.
I quickly sat up straight in my seat, and some of my desk neighbors looked at me weirdly. I got used to it, though.
Less than a minute later, the teacher came in with a person I'd never seen before. A new student? A new friend, maybe?