One Shots

Happy New Year's (Naruto)

You were a tad eccentric. No one could argue with that. You were loved, admired, adored, worshipped, and highly esteemed by the entire village due to your combined ravishing beauty and deadly skills. Nothing like that of Sasuke Uchiha, whose skills far surpassed your owns in terms of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, but you were considered a prodigy. The greatest Medical Ninja at your age, merely seven.

He was a tad scorned. Everyone agreed on that subject. He was an outcast, feared for an unknown reason and hated for something locked in his past, something he hadn’t caused. And he was useless. His form was tragic, his skills were horrific, and nothing about him hinted at any ability at all. He was a disgrace, a vile being that the village was determined to keep away from you, so that your blossoming innocence would not be tainted by his forsaken atrocity.

People flocked to you; people shunned him into nonexistence. You never noticed him, never interacted with him, but he noticed you. How could he not? Everyone noticed you.

The village was alight with decorations: flaming lanterns, paper dragons, Sakura petals, red, red, red, and red. It was everywhere. The sense of festivity filled in the cool evening air as the sun began to set, splattering the sky with its illuminated gold, red, and orange paints. You found it beautiful, beautiful enough to paint if you’d only had the skills.

In your adorable green kimono that flaunted your young yet already developing figure nicely, you were a sight to behold. You easily stood out from the crowd of crimson with your calming sea-foam green garments, bright purple eyes, and flowing silver hair. Not to mention your winning smile that charmed everyone in sight.

Except him. Banned from social activities, he sat alone on his little swing, abandoned in the height of the celebration, not that anyone cared. No one ever cared. With eyes downcast, he chewed idly on the last of his ramen and sighed. But he didn’t cry. Naruto never cried. All his tears had dried up years ago. He’d even lost track of what day it was, which holiday the village was rejoicing.

Used to the uncanny silence of solitude, his ears pricked at the faint crunching of gravel beneath a foot. A light foot, a dainty foot.

A sleek silver sandal stopped before him, encasing a milky white limb. His eyes remained fixated on that one item, his eyes widening as he prepared himself for another scolding or beating from a villager. Only nothing happened. Solitude once again consumed his world as you two stared, unmoving, at the other.

Suddenly, something else blocked his view of your sandal: a head, with beautiful hair and eyes that didn’t glare at him with unfathomable detestation. Instead, they sparkled at him with naïve curiosity.

A faint smile played on your red lips as you stared at him gently. He stared right back, unable to move partly in fear, partly in amazement. A deep flush filled his cheeks when the moon cloaked your skin in an ethereal glow. For the first time ever, he saw you, and he realized just how beautiful you were.

“Hello,” you’d said to him, “I’m [Name].”

“H—Hello,” he’d stuttered right back.

When he said no more, you giggled. “Aren’t you going to tell me your name, silly?”

“N—Naruto.”

“And why, Naruto, aren’t you at the festival with everyone else?”

He glanced down in shame. “I—I…”

You leaned forward expectantly, your rare and exotic eyes glittering in inquiry.

“People don’t like me,” he finally blurted out in embarrassment. Just as expected, he received silence as an answer. You’d left. Just like the rest.

Only you hadn’t. Instead, you stretched out a welcoming hand and smiled. “Well, that’s their loss. They can’t tell a gifted boy when they see one. Come on, go to the festival with me.”

At first, he hesitated, waiting for the hand extended midair to hit him or spur him in any way shape or form, but it never did. When he finally placed his trembling hand in yours, gradually, guardedly, he flinched in slight dread. But when you gripped his hand firmly and dragged him towards the warm, welcoming lights, he couldn’t help but smile.

All eyes averted themselves towards the odd couple, not sure whether to feel disdain or adulation. To them, you were the only thing they saw at first. Beauty in its prime, yet still emerging. Then they saw him, and their hearts conflicted in a way that made them hesitate. Though no one said anything, they were tolerant of the pariah because they decided that if you had the heart to drag him into society tonight, the least they could do was humor you. You, you, you. Everything they did was for you, always.

He couldn’t stop staring the entire night. For the first time, he didn’t notice anyone else. He watched your delighted, bubbly face light up at paintings, mostly paintings of irises. It didn’t take a genius to discover that they were your favorite flower. Throughout the evening, you dragged him everywhere, from game booths to restaurants to quaint shops to street performers. And finally, your hill.

The hill that you always went to when you needed some peace and quiet from the bustling village life and constant adoration. It overlooked everything, and only had room for a single Sakura tree, which was constantly in full bloom. It was your little secret. Even in the winter, it never withered, because you fed it life. Combining your intense passion for nature and unmatched Medical Ninja skills, you’d developed a forbidden jutsu, a jutsu that exchanged a life for a life.

So you’d take animals on the brink of death and suck the life into your tree. It wasn’t cruel; you were simply putting them out of their misery, and when Naruto asked about it, you simply told him it was a magical tree. But he’d been watching you for long enough to know that it wasn’t the truth. He didn’t press it.

Instead, as you watched the very last remnants of the sunset together, he gripped your hand and allowed you to lean against him peacefully. The serenity always brought to you by your hill washed over him. It was the first time you’d ever allowed a stranger here, and you wondered why you did it.

From the corner of your eye, you witnessed Naruto’s blush. When you pointed it out, he flushed deeper and turned away.

“[N—Name],” he stuttered, “why did you choose me tonight? There were plenty of others who would’ve been willing to escort you.”

You sighed and released the glittering, green butterfly pin from your hair, allowing it to rush down and around your shoulders in a cascading waterfall. “Because you’re different. You like me for me, not for my looks or skills. I know what they think of me. They’re only nice to me because I’m a good Medical Ninja. They’re hoping that I’ll help them in the future, not because they actually like me. It’s all fake. Everything is fake.”

Naruto stared at you for the longest time, deciding whether to comfort you or not. In the end, he didn’t. Instead, he reached behind him, the scarlet returning to his cheeks as you glanced at him in wonder. What was he doing now?

“[Name],” he began, hands concealed behind his back, “Merry Christmas.”

As you took the extraordinary panting of the irises you’d been so engrossed by earlier with a gasp, you looked at him and said:

“Naruto, it’s New Years.”

…

“Oh.”