Red circles

4.

The next day, almost all the class was absent. Just one student was there.
Yes, it was me.

When Iruka realized that I would be the only student in the class, he suggested that I should just go home, because it would be pointless for him to teach only one person.
I agreed with him. Iruka-sensei is one of the few people who care about me, and I appreciate that.

So now I'm walking through the streets of the village alone, wondering how is Juubo doing. And suddenly, I see him with the whole class, walking somewhere, with Juubo on the front.
They didn't see me, so I thought of a great idea, which was to startle Juubo and then join the entire group.
Who knows? Maybe they will finally accept me?
Perhaps they will like me?

...
I walked up quietly through my classmates to get to Juubo, who was walking in the front of the full group. They didn't see me, too busy talking about some subject I didn't care about.
What I cared about was Juubo.
— BOOO!-I screamed, jumping on his back.
He screamed too, almost falling because of the additional weight, and then stopped.
— Huh? What's wrong Juubo? It's just me, Naruto!-I smiled.

He looked at me, his eyes full of disgust as he turned his head in my direction.

Oh, no. I recognized that glare.

He then, as expected, pushed me violently off him, making me fall to the floor.
I knew I was fucked.

— Juubo, what are you...-
— DON'T TOUCH ME YOU FREAK!-interrupted.-WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER YOU FREAK?! IF I HAD KNOWN EARLIER, I WOULDN'T HAVE EVER BEEN FRIENDS WITH YOU! YOU DESERVE NOTHING!-he spat on me-I KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH YOU, BUT A WHOLE JINCHURIKI?! YOU'RE HORRIBLE! YOU KILLED MY UNCLE! THE ONLY THING YOU DESERVE IS TO ROT IN HELL, YOU STUPID FREAK!-
When he finished, he told the group to "get away from the freak quickly", leaving me and my face full of tears and Juubo's spit.

I don't know how much have I been lying there, on the ground. All I did was think about everything I did with him, all the good times, all the laughs, and I knew that this time I was allowed to cry.

The villagers who saw me laying on the ground and crying gathered around me and did what they always do: laugh at me, gossip about me, and talk shit about me.

This time, though, I completely ignored them. They're not important right now.
I couldn't just stop crying and forget about him.

He made my life heaven
And now, I'm in hell again.

.......

I have been lying in bed for a few days now.
I ignored the banging on my door, I ignored my hunger,
I ignored the fact that I still hadn't showered.
I just thought.
A lot.

And I still couldn't recover.
There was one thing that I was glad happened.
Juubo explained why he hated me.
Jinchuriki.
Apparently, I am one.
The problem is...
I don't know what a Jinchuriki is.

That was the only thing that kept me alive.
What does that word mean, and why does everyone hate it?
I need to know.
I have a feeling it's important.

But if it is important, then the 3rd Hokage should've told me that, right?

Unless.
I don't know if I should trust anyone.

All that thinking made me a little, well... Different.

When I finally got the courage to stand up, the first thing I realized was how much the world was spinning after I just woke up. It was annoying.
I went to the mirror, and when I saw it, I couldn't believe it.
I looked horrible, with big black eyebags, my body looking pale and scrawny, my hair not spiky anymore, and... My eyes no longer held life in themselves.

I wondered if they would ever go back to "normal"

— But, haha-I laughed softly to myself.- they are normal. I've been through that my whole life. Why am I suddenly so pathetic, only because I lost someone?-I asked the mirror. Ph, as if it could answer me. I knew the answer myself anyway.

It was because Juubo made me realize how great life is when you're not alone.

— Ah, I really need to get some sleep- I said to my mirror again.- And maybe a shower- I laughed. Something must be wrong with me to laugh to myself.

I decided that I should shower first, feeling horrible as cold water washed through me and my weak body. I don't like cold showers, but this will do.

Next, I went to the kitchen and made myself some ramen.
When the water was boiling, I checked the fridge to see if there was any other food besides ramen, but unfortunately, I only found a small carrot that was covered in mold and a bottle of milk. Expired milk, of course.

I sighed before throwing it away to my now bioactive thrash.
Another thing to the list. The thrash.
I decided that I should go outside and get some food. And that's what I did, of course.

Soon I was at the same shop I was a few days ago. I took a few things and quickly packed them into my backpack, trying not to raise suspicion, as there were a few people in the shop. I packed what I wanted and got out of the shop as if nothing happened, with a smile on my face.

Then, I began going home, dropping my smile and thinking about the way of getting information about the word "Jinchuriki". There were a few options:
— Ask a random person (I'd rather die)
— Ask a classmate (I'd rather die, too)
— Ask Iruka (Does he even know what that is?)
— Go look for it in a library (Possibly the best one yet)
— Ask the Hokage (If he knew, why couldn't tell me earlier?)
— Ask Juubo (I'd rather ask a random person)

I knew that a lot of people would be suspicious about my question, that's why I chose to go to the library. I was going to go there when I left the groceries at home.

When I finally reached my apartment, I opened the door, threw the groceries, and closed the door again, locking it.

Then, I went to look for something that would answer the question I have been asking myself since the day I was born.
I sprinted to the library and arrived in a few seconds.
I opened the door and was greeted with the specific smell of old books.

I decided not to ask the old lady who worked here about a book about Jinchurikis because I wanted to avoid raising suspicion.
After a few minutes of searching, I quickly realized that I was stupid.

I didn't even know where to look to find it! Am I supposed to look at mental health conditions or something?

That's when a certain book got my attention. It had a claret color and a title that said "All about the Bijuu". It didn't have the exact word I was looking for, but I trusted my instincts and knew I had found the right thing.