Hand Signs [A Deaf Naruto Fanfiction]

Chapter 1: Normal

Chapter One: Normal

Naruto was known throughout his village for a couple things. Besides the hatred and disgust that seemed to follow him everywhere, Naruto was known for his pranks and his volume. Naruto was loud. In fact, except for his rare moments of public loneliness, he was almost never quiet at all. Even in his academy classes he seemed perpetually unable to keep still and quiet long enough to hear any of the lessons they taught.

It wasn't entirely his fault though. It was just that everyone else was so quiet. Besides, how was he supposed to hear himself if he was as quiet as the rest of them? How was he supposed to hear them if they never spoke louder? It wasn't as if they helped him either, whenever he asked someone to repeat themselves they just got angry and yelled at him. Everyone yelled at him. Adults yelled at him, telling him to stay away from their shops or their kids or just to stay away from everyone. Kids yelled at him too, they called him a loser or deadlast or dumb and a monster or demon just like their parents did, parroting the words he heard regularly from adults at the same volume. Naruto didn't understand though. If he was always too loud why did no one yell at them for being too loud? He was eleven and kids who were older than him were louder sometimes and they only shook their heads fondly saying something like "Kids..." in a nostalgic tone. It wasn't fair

He was always torn with things like that. He wanted so badly to be acknowledged, to be seen as more than a monster (and he still didn't understand why they called him that to begin with so much as come to just accept that that's how they saw him), to be seen for who he was and not whatever they thought he was. On the other hand he often wondered if it would stop if he just faded. Stopped pranking, stopped being loud, just stopped. He supposed the only thing stopping him was the fact that he knew that even if he did stop they wouldn't, it would only make things worse for him. They'd probably think he was plotting something or something equally stupid. Because Naruto loved Konoha no matter how much it seemed to hate him. Because despite that he still had the Sandaime and Iruka-sensei, the newest instructor at the Academy. He, at least, didn't let any hatred he might feel for Naruto get in the way of his job like his other teachers-even if he did get mad when Naruto asked him to repeat himself or speak up. Naruto didn't understand why everyone was so angry about it and every time someone yelled at him for simply asking them to repeat something he felt just a bit lonelier than he did before. Especially when it was Iruka-sensei, since the man had been one of the first to touch him, hold him, so gently without meaning harm or needing to be bribed or coerced like the ones who'd looked after him when he'd been at the orphanage-not that he'd been there for long.

Being constantly in the villagers' sights, their thoughts, because of his awesome pranks also meant things being thrown at him when he passed by, not to mention the abuse his poor apartment dealt with on a weekly basis were common occurrences. So when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and then blackness, well, if he hadn't been knocked out by the attack he wouldn't have been surprised. What did surprise him, however, was waking up in a sewer.

The lights were dim and everything was monochrome in ugly yellow-green-browns with cloudy, ankle deep water and a constant dripping sound. There were multiple tunnels to walk through and he noticed almost immediately that something was different here. Because the dripping sounds weren't loud but he heard them clearly and every step he took in the shallow water didn't sound dull and fuzzy but instead sounded clear and crisp and it was amazing.

As he made his way down the sewer, he still wasn't sure where he was or why he was there but finding a way out seemed more important, he followed the low rumble coming from the left and large pipes and annoying drips that seemed to be everywhere. The rumbling led him to a room with a large gate that blended in with everything else in the sewer. It was tall, not as tall as the Hokage Mountain but tall and in the middle where the lock would be was a paper with the lone kanji seal written neatly in perfect calligraphy. Naruto could hear movement, water splashing and something rustling, behind the gate and could feel that he wasn't alone. He could feel the power of whatever was hiding in the shadows of the gate and the darkness and hatred that poured off of whatever it was.