As The Story Unravels

Prologue-The Past

 Naruto's POV

I look up at the night sky and it's beauty while thinking of the villagers words. They had called me almost every name in the book at this point. I'm only 6 years old and I've been abused, had fake friends who turned out to be bullies and been called names almost all my life. I only had a few friends because everyone hated me. However, the few friends I have are all very loyal and care about me. Not many people care about me though. Everyone loves seeing me hurt, seeing me suffer. I take myself out of my thoughts and look up at the sky again thinking of the beauty of it.

It's a weird habit of mine, I always love looking at fire or the night sky. The way it looks intrigues me, how it can look like a black pit of darkness or a fiery flame capable of killing, one minute and the next like a beautiful black canvas with white paint specks all over it, or a glowing orange stream of heat moving through wood. I always think of everything that happened whatever day it is as I sit on my bed in pajamas. After I think fully about my day I lay down and fall asleep.

This is what I was thinking tonight as I dive into my memory of today's horrible events. It started as any normal day for someone would, I opened my eyes but instantly closed them again before remembering I had to go to the academy. I dragged myself out of bed, got dressed, and skipped breakfast. I then got dressed and traveled, by rooftop, to the academy. A lot of people think that you can only enter the academy when you turn eight. That isn't true people just usually enter the academy at 8. I started the academy this year because the hokage thought I would get bored if I was alone in my house all day. 

Anyway, I arrived at the academy about a half hour early, as I usually do, to play on, and nearby the swing that was tied to a tree outside the academy. I got there before Iruka, which was surprising because he is usually here before me. Suddenly, I heard a group of villagers talking. I recognized one of their voices and knew it was one of the villagers that had beat me up the previous day. I can only imagine what they would do if they found out I was all alone at the academy. Usually, Iruka is here and no one tries to hurt me around him because he would protect me. That is why Iruka doesn't know what is going on behind academy walls. He falls for my act just as much as everyone else does.

As I think of what they would do if they found me, I climb the tree to get away from them, and so that they couldn't see me. I let in a shaky breath as I finally make it up into the tree and cover myself with more branches so they couldn't see me. They walk past me and I make sure they are gone. I come down and wait for Iruka. He eventually arrives and waves at me as he walks past me and into the academy. I wave back at him with a bright smile plastered onto my face, but as he walks away, it falters. I know that I shouldn't bother him with my problems, but I want to, I want to tell him everything. I want to tell him that people bully and abuse me, I want to break my mask and tell him everything. I really, really want to except, I can't. I am a burden already I can't let anyone in.

I finally see other kids starting to walk towards the academy, some with their parents dropping them off, some approaching the academy alone.

Alone. It was a word I knew too well for my liking. I sit on the swing outside until I know that Iruka will start class soon. I walk inside while plastering a huge grin on my face. I hate being loud and I hate smiling and I hate this stupid mask I have to put up. I know it might not seem like I need my mask but I do I need it desperately. I learned to put up a mask of a happy-go-lucky idiot that loves playing pranks. I don't, I am not happy in fact I am the exact opposite of happy. I can't escape the thoughts that consume me. I can't eat and I can barely sleep, staying up later then most six year old's and even some adults would.

As I said I only have a few friends but they don't go to the academy yet, they are all my age and I am the only six year old at the academy. Some of my friends are Ino, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Hinata. Ino is mostly nice to me, and she pretends to like Sasuke like all the other girls our age because she doesn't want anyone to find out she likes a girl, she won't tell me the name of her crush though. Kiba is kinda like my mask, he jokes around, but doesn't usually pull pranks, we aren't the closest of friends but I still consider him a good friend. Then there's Shikamaru, he is incredibly smart and his brain is always working, as well as he is very observant so I need to be extra careful to not let my mask slip at all around him, he is also always saying everything and everyone is troublesome. Hinata is the most shy of my friends she is always nervous around everyone, she also likes the color purple. None of my friend's parents ,except for Ino's, like me very much though.

After school, I get out of the school and go around the back so that none of the parents see me because Iruka is not here anymore, he had to go to the hokage's office and I knew that the parents would beat me if they saw me here without Iruka, and I also knew damn well that the kids wouldn't try to help. In fact they were raised told if they see someone beating me up, not to interfere and to not go and try to get help. I didn't even know WHY they hated me.

I started walking back towards home, it was an apartment directly outside the hokage tower so no one dared attack me when I was near my home, because the hokage didn't like it when anyone hurt me, except that didn't stop them from attacking me, they just don't attack me near my home. It had been about 10 minutes of walking I usually stick to alleyways just so the villagers don't see me, or at least not often, they did still see me sometimes. That is when I heard it in the alley behind me... 

footsteps. I then hear there loud voices, I can already tell they're drunk. Oh no, nothing good happens to me when villagers are drunk. That is when I realize where I am. My eyes widen in horror...   I was in the red light district.

I hear them coming closer and closer, I tried to find a way out of the alley other than the street. But I couldn't, I couldn't find a way out. I suddenly feel an exploding pain on the back of my head. I could feel broken glass around me and a glass shard on my head digging into me. I could tell I was hit by a bottle of sake. 

After that the man took my shirt off, and took out a... no. The man took out a kunai. He started carving words into my back. I winced and screamed in pain...but either no one heard me or no one cared. I felt my warm blood spill out of the wounds of my back. These men must know that I heal fast and the words wouldn't scar unless they forced it to. For once I was glad that they were drunk but only because they were not thinking straight. If they were thinking straight they would wait for me to almost heal which would take about a minute then carve again that would be the most painful way to make it scar. But instead they poured sake all over my back and it still hurt me, but less than it would have. They did this until they had gotten tired. I grabbed my jacket from the side of the alley where it was and walked the rest of the way home and slid down the door. I got up and automatically went to shower to get the alcohol off of me.

I had finished showering and was now changing into my pajamas. I then looked out the window I had taken a longer shower than I thought to make sure I had gotten all of the alcohol off me so I didn't smell like it. I was meeting up with my friends tomorrow and Kiba would definitely smell it on me and Shikamaru would then piece together what happened and share it with the others, then Ino would take off my shirt to see if I was okay and find the other scars, then Hinata would take off to tell Iruka what happened,and it would just be a big mess. 

After I finished changing I sat down on my bed and looked out the window, which brought me back to real time. I laid down and after about 2 hours off tossing and turning... I went to sleep.

A/N I just wanted to say this is my first story and I am going to try to update at least once every three days, I also am just a sixth grader so I apologize if its bad. Please tell me if I make any mistakes in spelling or grammar mistakes. I also want to know if you guys want long chapters or not. I am also sorry if I don't update a lot I will just have a lot going on with schools.

Word Count:1622  (not counting A/N)