Red circles

3.

It has been a few weeks since I've been friends with Juubo. He asked the teacher to move, so he could sit next to me.
We've been hanging out every day, much to the villagers' annoyance.
My classmates obviously didn't like the fact that the new kid was hanging out with "stupid Naruto".
They weren't planning to ruin my friendship with him, and I was surprised to see that. They were just quiet and didn't really talk to him.
And me, of course.

But Juubo wasn't satisfied with that. He wanted to be friends with the whole class, not only one person, so he started talking to everyone, even if the topic was just homework.

And soon, he was successful, because many people were interested in him. He was from another village, after all.

Since then, I started seeing Juubo less.
He was getting more and more busy with his new friends, but we still hung out a lot.

We were sitting in his apartment eating ice cream and talking.
- Hmm, do you think you will pass the exam? It's in a few days after all.
- Of course, I will, I'm going to become a Hokage after all! An exam is nothing for me!- I lied. A bit. I still wanted to become Hokage, but recently I've been wondering if it's really worth it. I don't know if I want to become a Hokage when even the villagers hate me.

- That's good to know. I'm quite scared myself, but you're right. It shouldn't be that hard!-he laughed.
- Oh, and Naruto, I forgot to tell you about that before, but I remember now! Listen!

And so I listened, even leaning more to my best friend to catch any word he said.

- Soo...

- I...

For my friend, I kept my mouth shut, even though I wasn't the most patient person.

- I got invited for a big sleepover! I can't wait! It's going to be huge! Everyone will be there! You were probably invited too, right?- he said with excitement in his voice.
He was surprised when he didn't hear any response.
- Naruto?

But at the moment, I was distracted by thinking again about how horrible it was for my classmates to do something like that. I wanted to be mad at them, but there was an emotion that suppressed my madness. And it was fear.

Since becoming friends with Juubo I realized that my biggest fear was becoming alone again. I knew it wasn't good, but I couldn't help it.

He made me feel better and forget about everything.
Every time I feel sad, just being next to him makes me happy. It makes me feel wanted; that's when I know that my existence isn't worthless after all.
He is honest, nice, cheerful, supportive, and much, much more.

I can't imagine a world without him. It sounds cringe, but it's true.

So you could tell I was devastated by the fact that he got invited to the sleepover. Why?
Because I knew they did it to take him away from me.
And yet, I couldn't do anything.
I cannot decide for him.

- Hello, Naruto, are you there?- he said, waving a hand in front of my eyes.

- Yes, I'm sorry, I spaced out. I'm happy that you're making friends with the class. I knew they would like you.-

Surprisingly, acting was always one of the things I did best. It's not hard at all to just fake your tone and lie a bit.

- I'm so happy you're my friend, Naruto! You're the best! Even, if they will be my friends too, remember: you are my best friend, and you always will be!-Juubo grinned.

I smiled too, even if it was just a small smile. Juubo made me insecure about my grin, so I stopped smiling a lot. It's not Juubo's fault, though. It's mine for having that smile.
(AN: I know Naruto's smile isn't scary, but this is for fanfic purposes. Even though it's cute in the anime, it's scary here.)

- So, when will the sleepover be?- I asked

- Oh, actually it's today- My fake smile almost dropped.

- Did you pack already? I don't know what hour the sleepover starts, but it's already 8 p.m. and you don't want to be late, right?

- What? 8p.m? You're joking. Surely it's not...-Juubo looked at his clock. - OH NO, I'M GOING TO BE LATE! I HAVE TO PACK! IT STARTS AT 9 P.M!

- I'm just going to go home then... Good luck Juubo...-

- BYE NARUTO!-he yelled in a hurry.

I got out of his house and started walking in the direction of mine.
He has never been to my house. He has asked multiple times why can't we just hang out there, but I couldn't possibly show anyone what conditions I live in. Plus the fact that he doesn't know I don't have parents.

I was a bit hungry, so I decided to buy a cup of ramen on the way back.
I walked into my favorite shop. It was my favorite because it always had many flavors of ramen. I didn't like the seller though, he always seemed to be annoyed by me.
Maybe he just didn't like kids.

The shop was big, bigger than most shops in Konoha. It was a normal supermarket.
I chose my favorite flavor and turned in the direction of the seller, who was reading a newspaper.
Before I went to pay him, something told me to check my wallet.
And I did it, of course.

I was devastated.
I had so much money before! And now I don't have anything!

How is it possible? I started thinking. It didn't take a lot of time for me to realize that someone must've stolen it.

I didn't care that I was in a shop. I felt my pulse increase as I sat down.

Stealing? That's who we are now? That's horrible! I haven't even done anything for them!
I'm always nice to them, and they steal my money?!

The gulp in my throat disappeared with those thoughts. All I felt was rage. I knew they didn't like me, but not to the point of stealing money.
I took my hair in my hands and pulled on it. Hard. I felt so much rage at the moment I could die.
After a few seconds, my eyes started burning slightly, which confused me. The feeling was unfamiliar. I knew I wasn't crying, and yet my eyes burned horribly.
I calmed down when the burning stopped after about a minute. I stayed on the floor and began thinking.
Someone stole my money, and now I don't have any money to pay for ramen.

Should I steal it?

It didn't take me long to make the decision.

All I can say is, the ramen tasted great today.
Why? Because it was free.

And the best part was
I didn't feel bad about it.