I Win (Naruto Abandoned / Betrayed Fanfic)

Dolls

A/N: I hope Naruto's "descent" makes sense. I tried to do something different and as we all know, whenever I try to do anything different I always 'ruin it' according to some people lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoy :)

---------------------------------------

Naruto opened his eyes. It was a new day but everything else was the same. His bones still felt like they had 100-kilogram weights on them. He picked himself up and slowly moved out of his apartment. He was surprised about how still nobody had come and trashed the place. Before it was a semi-daily occurrence.

'Maybe they feel sorry for me.' Naruto didn't even buy his own excuse. But now was not the time to ponder on such inconsequential information. Naruto continued on back to the training site.

By the time the sun was setting, Naruto was almost completely out of energy. He had decided that he would take it to the next level and try a jog today. That was a mistake. He had tripped and fell at least 7 times. His 'run' ended more with a limp. He made his way back through Konoha. Naruto didn't pay much attention to his surroundings. Unconsciously, Naruto found himself moving to Iruka's house. Back when he was younger, Naruto had come here once when he felt his loneliest. Iruka had been nice to him and then taken him out for ramen. Perhaps a small part of Naruto thought it might happen again.

'Since I'm here, I might as well ask,' thought Naruto as he walked up and knocked on the door. After a couple moments, the door opened and Iruka stood in the doorway.

"Hello-" he stopped when he saw who was in front of him. He had to look down because Naruto was so much shorter than him. His eyes narrowed, "Naruto."

Naruto laughed awkwardly, "Hey Iruka-sensei! I-I was just wondering... c-could we, I don't know, d-do something? I'm f-feeling pretty lonely and I-"

Iruka cut him off coldly, "Could you not bother me please."

The door slammed shut. Naruto didn't bother taking the smile off his face. He simply sighed and continued back to his house through the village. Internally, Naruto wanted to cry.

'Will anyone... just be nice? Ever?'

He walked past a small playground, one that he had used to play in. He didn't know whether the place held happy or sad memories considering he used to play here but he also used to play here alone. He had been rejected and dejected here more times than he could count. He looked inside. Two small children were playing with dolls, talking to each other. They were playing, conversing, moving... the dolls in a way were kind of like real people. Naruto didn't know why but something about this enamoured him. After watching the dolls for a couple moments, Naruto suddenly had an epiphany. He got home as fast as he could. Naruto checked through all of his supplies. He found a couple of small pieces of wood. He carefully chiselled away at them until they resembled the general shape of a human. Naruto looked at his handiwork proudly. He set to work painting them. Each one of them had to look perfect.

The sun was now long gone and the moon shone vibrantly in the sky. It was a few hours past midnight and Naruto had just finished. He set his works on a table in front of him. 7 tiny little dolls, each corresponding to someone in Naruto's life and all about the size of a toilet roll. One of them was for Sakura, one for Sasuke, one for Kakashi, one for Jiraiya, one for Tsunade, one for Iruka and one for Hiruzen. For a couple of minutes, Naruto just stared at them, basking in their glory. He picked the one of Iruka up. He didn't really know what to do. Kind of awkwardly, Naruto put the Iruka doll in front of him.

"Hello Naruto," Naruto said to himself in his impression of Iruka's voice. He almost laughed at himself. He sounded so dumb! But at the same time, he smiled. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but when he had said that, he felt something warm. He repeated himself. He felt the same warm feeling.

"Hey Iruka-sensei!" Naruto talked back to the doll. His voice was much quieter than it usually was, "Are you alright?"

"I'm great Naruto!" the Iruka doll said, "How are you?"

Again, Naruto felt a warm sensation through his body.

'So this is what it feels like to be acknowledged!' Naruto thought happily to himself, 'So nice!'

"I'm feeling sad Iruka-sensei," Naruto replied.

"That's not good Naruto, is there anything I can do?" asked the Iruka doll. Naruto nodded.

"I would just like to talk to you, thank you very much." Naruto tried to talk with as much politeness as he could. It was kind of like playing a game.

"You can talk to me any time!" the Iruka doll said in a friendly manner, "I'll always be here for you Naruto!"

"You can talk to me as well!" Naruto turned in surprise. The Jiraiya doll had just spoken to him. Naruto reached out and picked that one up as well.

"Hey Pervy Sage!" Naruto said happily. Although Naruto had painted a happy expression on the doll of Jiraiya's face, he saw it turn into a frown.

"Don't call me that!"

Naruto laughed. A tiny part of him though, was telling him this was not right. This is unhealthy. This is strange. Naruto tried to quieten it. Now the Kakashi doll spoke to him.

"You're doing great with your training Naruto!" he said. Naruto smiled and scratched the back of his head pridefully.

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei! It's all because of your guidance!" he bowed.

"No Naruto, your achievements are yours. Be proud of yourself!" Naruto smiled at the doll's words.

"I'm proud to call myself your rival!" Naruto turned to Sasuke's doll.

"And I'm proud to be your friend!" the Sakura doll said.

"You've become a great ninja Naruto," said the familiar voice of the Third Hokage. Naruto turned happily to that doll.

"But I'm not a ninja anymore Jiji," Naruto said sadly.

"That can be changed!" proclaimed the Tsunade doll, "I make you a ninja again Naruto!"

"Baa-chan!" Naruto picked up the doll and hugged it, "I know you wouldn't hate me!"

The voice in Naruto's head was getting louder now.

'Stop. This is wrong. What you are doing is wrong. You are going insane. This is crazy. You need to stop.'

Naruto frowned at the voice. This was making him happy though. How could it be wrong?

'This is not what normal people do. You aren't speaking to real people.'

'Real people don't want to speak to me,' Naruto argued with himself.

'You just need to stay sane and you will get through this. This is not sane.'

"Don't listen to him Naruto," said the Hiruzen doll, "He's trying to take you away from us."

"We make you happy, right Naruto?" reasoned the Kakashi doll.

"We don't hurt you, right Naruto?" reasoned the Sakura doll.

"We're your friends, right Naruto?" reasoned the Sasuke doll. Naruto nodded.

"Yeah... friends... I love you guys..." he said, as if in a trance.

'No. You need to stop thinking this. They aren't real. This is wrong-'

Suddenly the voice went quiet. Naruto turned back to his dolls. He smiled happily.

"Now I'm not alone anymore. I never have to be alone. Ever again."