(Two months later)
"Who do you think you're trying to be? A hero?"
"You want to be Hokage someday? Ha!"
"People like you never become Hokage!"
Eyes flickering open under the piercing glare of the midday sun, the miserable form of Naruto, wearing a blue shirt with an orange fire symbol on the front and green shorts, found himself lying sprawled out in the middle of the park, staring up at the clear blue sky. Feeling the numbness in his face and body slowly ebb away after several moments, the youngster then gave a pained groan when his brain finally registered to the fact that he was injured.
The reason as to why revealed itself shortly thereafter, as memories of his most recent encounter with the local kids started to come back to him.
Naruto remembered coming over to the park earlier that morning in a hopes of finding someone else to play with outside of the school and the orphanage. When he spotted a group of slightly older boys giving a young girl over by the sand pit a hard time, he stepped in to try and stop them. What followed from there was the blond proclaiming himself the next great Hokage, in which the youngsters laughed and insulted him. After Naruto punched the leader, knocked him to the ground and started to beat on him in retaliation, the other four adolescents tackled him away and began their assault.
Sure, little gutsy Naruto put up a good fight, using all of the anger and frustration he'd built up over the last several weeks to push him forward. He even managed to break one of the kids' noses and knock one of the others into a daze. But soon enough, the older kids managed to gain the upper hand. They surrounded him, pinned him to the ground, and pummelled him into submission, until the poor, lonely orphan was unable to move or fight back. The kids then laughed at him one last time, mocked his dreams of becoming Hokage, and left.
That was only a few minutes ago and, with the bullies no longer in the area, all Naruto was left with for his troubles was a thoroughly bruised body, a couple of cracked ribs, a throbbing headache, and a half-blind eye.
Needless to say, it was poor start to what the youngster guessed was going to be another wretched day.
"Someone with no friends and no family will never become a great ninja."
"You're a loser."
"Why don't you just go away?"
Naruto frowned to himself through his swollen cheek and eye as he replayed the memory of his beating at the hands of the delinquents in his head over and over again, as well as the scolding and vacant looks he received from the people he passed on the streets that morning. Seeing these images flicker in front of him for a full minute caused the orphan to instinctively clench his fists and stiffen his jaw angrily.
Upon letting his rage swell to the point of bursting, the boy then released it with a heavy hiss and a whimper, and shut his eyes tightly. He then turned his head into the dirt that he was lying in and muttered.
"I'm so weak… so pathetic," the child whispered as a crushing sense of defeat and powerlessness fell over him for what felt like the hundredth time in a row. Barely able to hold back his frustrations or his sadness, the child formed a fist and hit the ground. "I can't even fend for myself… and nobody in this village cares…"
The fact that not a single adult he could see walking on the street on the other side of the park were even bothering to come over and help was proof of that, and only served to upset the child even more. They just walked on, minding their own business and not even sparing him a single glimpse of concern or curiosity.
Even the adults that had been there at the time of the incident didn't care what'd happened and simply ignored the scene, while the parents took their children away for their own safety.
As the anxiety from these moments started to cut in deep and rattle his senses, Naruto felt a rush of hatred and rage envelop him.
He wanted to scream at the people. To cry out and curse at them. He even had the inclination to get up, run out onto the road, and attack all those blank and emotionless faces turning a cold shoulder on him. All his years of loneliness and not understanding what the hell made people hate and despise him so came bubbling to the surface, filling him with an outrageous feeling of ire. He just wanted to do something- anything- to get them to look at him, to get them to acknowledge that he was there and that he existed. He wanted them to see that he was a human being, just like them, and not some monster they were trying to avoid.
However, thanks to the bruises he'd sustained, Naruto couldn't even muster the strength to budge an inch, and just lay there on the ground, staring off to the side with a dead look in his eyes as the rest of the world moved around him. It was like it didn't want anything to do with him.
While he lay there, overcome by grief and helplessness, the boy slowly reached into his shirt and pulled out a red pendant with the whirlpool symbol hanging from a string around his neck.
Even though he'd had this thing with him ever since he was born, he had no idea what it was or what it did. All he knew was that it was something precious to him, something he looked to for comfort, and was something that was familiar and close to his heart. So, after glancing down at the little amber-like gem glittering between his fingers, he then clutched it tightly in his palm and pulled it closer.
Naruto then lay there for what felt like hours, staring at the empty playground as the heat of the day continued to beat down on him and allowing his anger to peter out, and slowly transform into misery and regret. He ignored the sun that flashed him in the face from between the clouds and the flies that buzzed around him, like they were hovering over the body of a dead animal.
He may as well be dead for all he knew. Nobody wanted him. Hell, not even the caretakers or the children at the orphanage he stayed at cared if he was around. They treated him just like everybody else- with ignorance and displeasure.
"You don't have any friends and nobody likes you. That makes you the bad guy."
"A bad guy will never become the village leader."
His memories of Kaito and his friends resurfaced once again, playing back in his head like a horrible nightmare. Subsequently the blonde's expression steeled and his limbs shook. So overwhelmed by the absurdity of it all, Naruto did his best in recounting all the things he knew in an attempt to find an answer behind his endless suffering. It was the only thing he could do at this time.
"Kaito is always smiling."
"Kaito is strong."
"Kaito loves picking on the weak."
"Kaito is loved by everyone."
"Kaito is an asshole."
"Kaito is popular."
Naruto then began considering the inverse.
"I'm always alone."
"I'm not strong."
"I hate people who pick on the weak."
"I have no friends."
"I have no family."
"I have no one."
"Everyone hates me."
There was only one other person Naruto could relate to in regards to this comparison, and that was all the people in history who'd suffered at the hands of those who had everything: power, strength, friends, and fame. It was like the villains he read about in his story books at the orphanage, and how they were constantly being beaten by the main character who everybody adored.
At first he admired the heroes and wanted to become just like that. But when he realized that the characters all reflected the exact same traits of the people that picked on him, he quickly started to develop a dislike for them.
If there was anyone's struggles and pain he could really sympathize with, it was the poor sods who tried fighting against the world and those with power, but ended up going nowhere.
In that moment, the young but bright Naruto saw the overwhelming unfairness in the world through his encounters with the kids at school and his interactions with the people across the village. The idea that the well-liked and popular people always end up one-sidedly beating down on the weak and hated people, and always getting their way, just didn't seem right in the orphan's eyes at all. It was a dreadful and disgusting reality that always meant one person getting hurt while the victors basked in their success.
The hero- the strong- in every single story would always have the approval of those around them and inevitably rise to the top, while their opposites remain forgotten. It was a cycle that was repeated over and over again, both in fiction and in the real world.
After all, it wasn't the villains' faces carved into the side of the Hokage Monument. No. It was those who were loved and accepted by everyone.
"Don't you know? The bad guy is always supposed to lose," another boy's voice echoed in his head one last time.
"So I'm a bad guy, huh?" Naruto thought, his frustration festering for several moments until, from out of nowhere, he became struck by a sudden sense of realization. "A… villain?" Blinking as he gazed across the deserted playground for several moments, the youngster then rolled onto his side and, with a quiet groan, forced himself back to his feet. Swaying from the dizziness in his head and the bruise in his shin, the youngster stared at the climbing equipment with great intent.
After several moments of tense silence and hearing the birds chirping overhead, the child then looked down at the pendant he was still holding and contemplated over his collection of thoughts.
"People who are liked… the strongest, smartest, and most popular people… they always win," Naruto murmured to himself, his brain slowly turning his thoughts into words. "But the people who are hated… the ugly and weak bad guys… they always lose. They try so hard… and yet they always end up getting killed in every story." His eyes reflecting the light of his pendant, the blond then gave his reasoning one last go over, before allowing a big smile to spread across his lips. "If everyone wants a bad guy so much… fine."
All of this eventually led him to one last conclusion and, upon releasing the pendant from around his neck, the blond looked across the expanse of Konohagakure and towards its most revered landmark. As soon as his eyes glued to the four faces watching over the community, the beaten and bruised blond raised a hand towards it and held it over the mountain.
"Popular guys winning and unpopular guys losing. That stupid story has been told a gazillion times already… and it's getting really boring."
With a determined grin appearing over his swollen lips, the blond then clenched his fist around the four Hokage heads and visually crushed them inside his palm in a malicious manner. In that very instant, his resolve was steeled and his eyes set on one goal.
"You'll see. From now on… I won't lose to anyone!" Naruto declared towards the monument and, to a greater extent, the entire village as a whole. In that instant, a dark shadow cast over his bright blue eyes, giving the child a much more fiendish appearance from before as he kept his gaze trained on his home's symbol of power and prestige. "I'll become the strongest villain… and change everything!"