00-Light on a Shadow

The relative time is a year or two before Naruto becomes a gennin.

A boy sat in the back of the class at the ninja academy. Nobody really knew him. He was the new kid and he never talked to any one. He was a good student and a hard worker, but had no friends. He was tan with messy dark brown hair. He was tall but it was hard to notice because his head was always slumped forward; shoulders hanging forward. He had pale green eyes but always kept his right eye closed.

He just kept to himself. The other kids had tried to talk to him, but he mumbled a response and that was that. He was obviously unhappy, but he just suffered by himself. He was the shadow in the back of the room. Until…

Aki was rocking in her chair. She was considering talking to that boy who sat in the back. She had never spoken to him before. She had watch over the past few months. He seemed like a nice guy underneath it all. He was just misunderstood. On a side note, his closed eye confounded her and she just had to know what was up with it. It was decided, she would talk to him at lunch. And so she waited, and waited; zoning out from her sensei’s lecture glancing over at that boy occasionally. She had a short attention span even for her age. She wondered what she’d say to him. She also wondered what was under his closed eye. Did it even open? Was there no eye underneath? Was the pupil really huge or tiny? Was it just a normal eye? Finally lunch had come, Their sensei dismissed the class and as she went into the school yard she spotted him sitting against a tree.

She walked up and said, “Hi”

“hm…,” he mumbled turning his head up to see who it was.

“Can I sit with you?” she asked.

“…sure” he mumbled again letting his head sink down again.

“So what’s your name?” she asked taking a seat next to him against the tree, “ Oh! I’m Aki. ”

“Yuki…” he said shifting himself away from her, “Ookami… Yuki”

Then she noticed that he had no lunch. She opened her little white lunch box sitting on her lap. Inside were several rice balls. She got one out and held it in front of him.

“Here have this” she offered.

“No thank you…”he mumbled, but his stomach betrayed him and let out a ferocious growl.

“Have it. I have plenty” she insisted waving it in front of him.

He took the rice ball and ate it quickly and some what savagely.

“Thank you” he said quietly.

“Not a problem” she said smiling then asked “so how are you?”

“umm… ok… I guess” he begin to mumble again.

“You know, you need to stop mumbling and speak up. It’s hard to understand you” she said quite frankly.

“oh… Sorry” he said blushing slightly.

“ So you’re new here” she said.

“Yes” he replied lifting his head up and speaking clearer.

“So are you from the village?” she asked try to keep a conversation going which was very difficult.

“ No, I come from a village north of here” he said starting to relax .

“Are you getting along alright here” she continued on this one sided conversation.

“Yeah I’m doing ok” he said and now looking Aki in the face.

“Did you move here so you could be a ninja” she asked glad to see him opening up.

“Yeah” he said.

“So why do you want to become a ninja” she asked.

“Well.. I wanted to prove myself… and… I wanted to do something important” he explained blushing.

“Me too” she replied happily

They sat there for awhile in a somewhat awkward silence. Aki eyes wandered and moved towards his closed eye. She quickly looked away but her eyes soon locked on his mysterious eye. She couldn’t help herself. The urge was building and building and she had to ask…

“um…” Aki began to blush “so… your eye… um…”

Yuki twitched and slumped over again, sighing. His eye… more like his curse… It isolated him from every one else. Sadly he said, “ I… I rather not talk about it…”

“Oh! I’m sorry I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s alright…” he cut in softly.

She felt terrible. It was her big mouth that always got her into trouble and now look what she had done. She just offended this boy who obviously was feeling bad enough with out her help…

“No no no” she said shaking her head“ it’s not… friends don’t do that to friends. How can I make it up to you?”

“Friends?” he said amazed.

“Yes, friends” she said, like it was a well know fact.

Friends. He had never had any friends. Never. He had always been rejected at his old village. He was the outcast. That’s why he left, that’s why he wanted to be a ninja… to prove to them …and himself… that he was not worthless…

“You don’t have to do anything” he spoke up “But thank you… for being my friend.”

Class was starting again and every one began to herd nosily back into their classes. Yuki and Aki walked in with the massive crowd and entered their class. Every one had gotten settled in to their seats. But something was different now… That boy, the shadow in the back was now sitting next to a girl. And even stranger, he was smiling. It was the first time anyone had seen him smile.

01-Stuck in a Loop

Relative time: Just past the gennin exam

Yuki and Aki created a bond over the past two years. The other students were shocked to see Yuki actually talking without being spoken to first. The two were best friends and totally inseparable. Yuki still shied away from the other students but now was able to hold a normal conversation with them. By the end of these two years it was time to take the gennin exam.

It was a relatively simple test. All they had to do was perform a clone jutsu.

And they had both passed the exam with ease and were excited to find out what teams they were on. Yuki was desperately hopping to be on Aki’s team. She was the only one who truly understood him. Sure, as time had passed he had found that all of his classmates were quite friendly but they weren’t the same as Aki… She was the only who really tried to get along with him. She was the one who truly accepted him as normal…

They were in class now and their sensei was about to call out the teams. Aki turned from mindlessly gazing out the window toward Yuki with an excited expression on her face. Their sensei called out team after team and they both waited anxiously. Now the last team was called: “Ookami, Yuki; Hana, Aki; Shoseki, Kenji. Your will be under will be Rokku, Kenta”

Yuki let out a held breath and looked at Aki. He smiled. It was such a relief to be on her team. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like if they weren’t. And so each newly formed team waited for their Sensei.

Kenji Shoseki looked up out of his book and around the class room for his teammates. He scanned the back of heads row by row until his eyes fell on Aki, who was gently rocking side to side in her seat. He disliked her; She was too noisy. Then he looked to Yuki. He was leaning his head on his hand with his eyes closed. He was ok. He didn’t talk much. Kenji’s eyes dropped back down to his book and he continued reading. Finally, Sensei Kenta walked into the class room. He called out his team’s names and they got up and followed him out of the room.

Now Kenji studied his new Sensei. He was a large man with strong muscles and wore the standard ninja uniform. He had a angular face with black hair. He spoke with a loud raspy voice.

They followed Kenta silently down the halls and out the school. They walked out into the street and across the village. Eventually he stopped and turned around and looked at them. Aki was looking at him eagerly. Yuki was looking at his feet. And Kenji was reading a book.

He said, “You guys sure don’t talk much”

“Oh! Well… Hi!” Aki said embarrassed.

Kenta laughed and said “You guys don’t have to be so formal. Your not in school anymore. And if we’re to be a good team we should get to know each other.”

“So where are we going?” Aki asked

“We’re going to where are meeting spot is going to be from now on.” Kenta responded, “ Yeah, it will be right over there… That bench in front in front of the field.”

The three looked up ahead and saw the old, rusty bench. It had reddish-brown metal legs and arms and dry, dark, old wood seats. And there behind it was a waist-high wall and a somewhat large field. The field was surrounded by forest and had a couple of larges trees in the middle. The group walked over to the bench and Aki and Kenji sat on it while Yuki leaned on the wall and Sensei Kenta stood facing them all

“So let’s introduce ourselves and say what we like and don’t like, alright,” Kenta said

“Ok! I’ll start, I’m Hana, Aki. I enjoy being out doors and being with my friends. And, I don‘t like Mondays and the morning” Aki said cheerfully

“… Ok I guess I’ll go next,” said Kenji, “I’m Shoseki, Kenji and I enjoy reading, the library and quite places. I dislike loud noises and people.”

The group looked toward Yuki who was looking at his feet trying to decide what to say

“Well, I’m Rokku, Kenta. I enjoy training, exercise, and drinking.”

“Sensei!” Aki shouted “What kind of teacher are you?”

“At least he’s honest about..” Kenji said still reading his book

“Anyway,“ Kenta continued, “things I don’t like are formalities, paperwork and that sort of thing.”

Then there was a long pause and Aki whispered “Yuki?”

He looked up and said, “umm… I’m Ookami, Yuki and I like training and… uh… Well, I dislike it when… people stare… at…”

He left the sentence hanging. And memories began to pool at in his mind… Sad memories… Of people staring… staring at him… Hate in their eyes… and much worse… fear… They feared him… Like he was some kind of monster…

Aki noticed the sadness returning to him as he looked down again and leaned heavily on the wall. It troubled her to see him like that. He hadn’t seem that depressed seen when she first meet him. Had all the time she spent with her been wasted. She still didn’t know who was the real Yuki underneath that cloak of despair.

After an uncomfortable moment Kenta broke the silence saying, “Well tomorrow were meeting here at 7:00 sharp and bring ALL of your ninja equipment” and with that he vanished.

Kenji got up and walked away book in hand. Yuki still stood frozen and Aki was looking at him with concern. He just stood there, not even blinking. Aki stood up and walked over to him. She put her hand on his shoulder.

“Are you alright?” she asked
Yuki snapped out of it and said, “Yeah, I’m fine” with a weak smile.

“Are you sure” she asked, even though she knew he wasn’t

“Yeah” he whispered, “I’m going home, Alright?” He walked away.

Aki sighed. She didn’t know what to do. She had never been truly sad before. She lead a very pleasant life. She had no idea what he was going through. All she could do was be his friend. But she wasn’t getting anywhere. She was frustrated with herself. She couldn’t help the person she wanted to the most.

Aki eventually went home. She sat in her room the entire afternoon. She tried and tried to figure out how she should help him, but no answers came. Dinner came and went and she decide to go out for a walk and try to get some peace of mind.

She walked through the crowded street. Everything was so alive and busy. She was feeling better already. She peered through shop windows looked at all the people. She even spied sensei Kenta come out of a bar laughing. She shook her head. She soon had passed the ninja academy and there in a tree she saw a pair of feet dangling out of the foliage.

She walked to the base of the tree, looked up, and said, “What are you doing in that tree, Yuki?”

Yuki jumped. He had dazed out for quite some time now, Staring out into the horizon”

“…I always come here when I want to think about things.” He explained

“Could I join you?” she asked looking up at him hopefully

“Ok…” he said

And so both of them sat and stared out just as the sun finally vanished with an orange glow and purple night set in. And both of them thought about how they were getting nowhere. How they were both stuck in a loop.