Disclaimer: don't own Naruto, this is completely 'raw' i haven't checked it over and was released only because i'm so incredibly lazy with writing at the moment, hope it's at least acceptable!

He sat there, eyes still closed as if trying to sleep while being awake as he ate another spoonful of cereal, after doing so he decided he had enough and slumped back against the chair that creaked in protest, his arms hung over the side as he let his body go somewhat limp. He still had plenty of time so he didn't need to worry – funny, that was why he woke up so early in the first place.

With a grunt and a groan he hoisted himself up out of the chair, using the wooden table as momentary support to help him up, he forced his eyes open which was definitely not a nice feeling, and headed towards the bathroom where he could be in bliss for ten to fifteen minutes, he had always enjoyed showers as they tended to help him relax a little.

After the time he had allocated had passed he came out of the bathroom feeling brand new, his mind was put at ease and he no longer felt his fatigue. He walked towards his bedroom where he had laid out his clothes the previous night, folded on his bedside table was his infamous everyday outfit.

'Hmm…maybe it is a little bright after all.' Naruto whined in his mind but quickly shook of the thoughts trying to revert back to the bouncy, energetic blonde that people took him for,
'Orange is a great colour! It's definitely better than those depressing colours that Sasuke-teme wears!' Naruto thought to himself after regaining his positive outlook.

After getting dressed he let out a content sigh, his headband hung loosely over the edge of the bedside table, nearly touching the floor due to its length, he was proud of that headband and he cherished it for many reasons, the main one being that it was in fact Iruka-sensei's and the man had given it to him, making it all the more special. He tied it around his forehead proudly but felt blonde locks tickling his forehead beneath it.

'Mmhm, maybe it's time for a haircut. Oh well!' he thought as he untied it and decided to wear it around his neck just this once, he hadn't realised that his hair had become so long as he didn't have any mirrors in his apartment, he just didn't feel the need to stare at himself and mess around with his appearance – he was a ninja, not a super-model, as long as he was presentable that was good enough for him.

With the headband now loosely hanging around his neck he went over his equipment quickly, just like the old man had told him to, every day before he left the house. Nodding in satisfaction he headed towards the door, glancing back over his shoulder he looked to see if he had forgotten anything, after scanning the room he decided that he had everything he needed and set foot out of the door before locking it.

Heading down the long flight of stairs he thought of his options, he was early after all,
'Maybe I'll take a nice slow walk to the training ground, there's no reason to rush right?' Naruto thought to himself with a smile, after coming to the bottom of the staircase the first villager he seen glared at him.
'Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Guess I'll just head to the training grounds now…' he thought a little saddened before perking up again.
'Never mind! If I show up early then it will show that I am a reliable ninja that people can count on!' and with that in mind he raced off towards the training ground for team 7, thankfully he didn't have any missions today, not that he minded them – sure they were a little boring but it did bring home a little extra cash, he just preferred training because it gave him the chance to improve and team training was the only time he got to train with anyone else.

He soon arrived at the bridge, the meeting place for team 7 but after looking around he didn't see any other members of his team, but decided he wouldn't waste time however instead of doing physical training he decided he would meditate, after all, knowing his luck he would start early and tire himself out a little and then Kakashi would come along and wear him into the ground.
'Not today thank you.' Naruto thought before sitting Indian style and closing his eyes.

He enjoyed meditating when he got the time, it was nice, just like his showers that he loved so much it gave him the chance to take a moment and just relax, even if it was considered a form of mental training. His relaxation was soon broken when he heard footsteps as someone was walking across the bridge, his eyes fluttered open and he blinked a few times afterwards for good measure.

"Oh! Hey Sakura-chan! You're early too!" He chirped happily, he managed to keep voice down, but still sounded very enthusiastic too see the girl, after all she said being loud was annoying so he'd try his best to dull it down a bit, his teammates opinion of him was important to him, especially Sakura's.
"What do you want Naruto…you're not going to ask me out on a date again are you?" she groaned sleepily, Naruto tilted his head in confusion, still keeping his eyes on the girl.

"Ask you on a date? Why would I do that Sakura-chan?" he asked, his head still tilted, she frowned
"What do you mean 'why would you do that?!' am I suddenly not good enough to date?!" She asked aggressively, shaking her fist to cement her anger. Naruto had thrown his arms out in front of him in denial.
"N-No, no it's nothing like that! You already said you didn't want to, I'm not gunna pester you about it." He explained quickly in attempt to stop the beating that he could feel approaching, luckily for him, Sakura stopped shaking her fist and seemed to calm down before blinking at him.
"Huh…well good! That would be annoying!" She huffed and Naruto just nodded in agreement as if to show that he wasn't annoying.

"What are you doing here so early anyway?" She questioned as she turned to look at the blonde
'Well…you see I've been having nightmares ever since…' he thought.
"I thought I'd show everyone that I could be a reliable ninja too!" he explained before giving the cherry blossom girl a grin, although he doubted that was the reason she was here so early.
"What about you Sakura-chan? Where you excited to get here too?" he asked happily.

"Of course! How couldn't I be excited, I'll get to see my Sasuke-kun!" She declared for all the training ground to hear. Naruto offered a smile, not quite sure what to say in response to the announcement though he did feel that pull on his heart strings and that strange sinking feeling in his stomach that he had grown accustomed too.

Naruto shut everything out once more and after shifting from cheek to cheek in an attempt to get comfortable he closed his eyes, focusing on the gentle trickling of the stream beneath him and the bridge.
"What are you doing!? Do you know how rude that is?!" Sakura screeched causing the blondes eyes to jump open; he itched the back of his head nervously and gave an apologetic grin.
"I didn't think you'd want to talk to me…" Naruto said before chuckling nervously.
"Hmph! I don't!" she said as she crossed her arms and turned to face the other way, he shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes once again.

Time passed without further conversation, the sounds of nature passing through Naruto's mind as he slipped into relaxation once again, he felt a little bad that he wasn't talking to Sakura after she had told him off, but sent it to the back of his mind, she told him she didn't want to talk which meant if he talked to her now he would be annoying, and he didn't want to be annoying.

He heard footsteps once again and wondered if it was Sakura pacing up and down again but the shriek of 'Sasuke-kun!' soon told him otherwise, he decided not to open his eyes though, he guessed Sakura came early so that she could spend time alone with Sasuke, embracing the pang in his chest once more, he decided to fade into the background while to the two talked, well while Sakura talked.

"Hn." Was Sasuke's cool reply to the pinkette as she greeted him, though that was not enough to show that he wasn't interested, of course it wasn't, that would be too easy. A scowl came across Sasuke's features as he did his best to filter out the girls deafening noise, but she just went on and on, he didn't even know what the hell she was talking about. His frowned deepened, was she serious? He wasn't even answering her; she was literally having a conversation with herself.

"So what do you say Sasuke-kun?" She asked with a light blush forming across her cheeks,
"Sure." Sasuke answered not knowing what he was answering too, but if it shut up for even a little while, he would have chance to recover before his ears started bleeding.
"Really?!" she shrieked, Sasuke frowned, his answer resulted in happiness for her, which ment sorrow for him.
"No." Sasuke said which caused the cherry blossom to deflate and sigh heavily, looks like he managed to escape.

"Yo." Kakashi said while perched on the red handrail of the bridge, peering down at his students.
"You're late!" Sakura accused, as she shook her fist at the silver haired jonin who just shrugged before his gaze landed on Naruto, he scratched the back of his head before speaking.
"Uhm…what's up with Naruto, is he asleep or something?"
"He said he was meditating or something like that, probably just an excuse to goto sleep." Sakura replied.
"I'm not asleep." Naruto said before opening his eyes and giving a smile to the jonin he called his sensei.

Kakashi shrugged, he hadn't really saw Naruto as the meditating type…maybe it was something to do with being a jinchuuriki.
'Well whatever, I better set these three to work before they start complaining.' Kakashi thought with a sigh, 'Although that does mean I get to sit and read my book while I 'observe' them.' He reminded himself while fighting down a chuckle.

"Oi, dobe, why is someone like you meditating?" Sasuke asked with a smirk, not even looking towards his target, Naruto let a grin bless his features before retaliating.
"What's the matter teme? Is someone like you too stuck up to be seen doing it?" Naruto asked which earned him a low growl from the Uchiha.
"Naruto! Why do you always have to talk to Sasuke like that?!" Sakura bellowed in anger,
"I'd also like to know, Naruto." Kakashi agreed.

Naruto gritted his teeth, surely they weren't that biased! They just heard him start the argument in the first place, even if that was just his way of communicating.
"I-I'll tell you later Sakura-chan." He said with a grin before he noticed Kakashi frown,
"Anything you can tell Sakura, you can tell the rest of us, we're your teammates, Naruto." He said sternly which caused Naruto to sigh.

"I have a theory." Naruto said bluntly before giving them a foxy grin, he noticed Sakura tilt her head in curiosity so he leaned over to the now sitting girl and whispered in her ear in a sing song voice.
"I-know-how-you-can-make-Sasuke-like-you!" he sung in his hushed voice, the words made Sakura flush a deep red before she leaned back and nodded to his agreement of being told later.

"A theory?" Kakashi questioned causing the blonde to fight down a chuckle,
"That's right, a theory that Sasuke is just as big of a teme as I thought!" He announced causing the jonin to sigh.
'Well that was a somewhat disappointing theory.' The copycat thought before he set them off on their training, he wasn't a fan of bickering, it reminded him too much of his own team.

Naruto was glad that he spent his time meditating earlier this morning, he found himself panting for breath, as he predicted todays training was based around physical attributes…as usual, he couldn't exactly say that he had learnt anything today, but he did get to practice taijutsu as well as get a good work out, so he was somewhat content.

He looked around for his team but saw that they were walking off without him, an easy mistake to make, Naruto slumped down against the tree, it wasn't exactly a chore to say goodbye to someone but they didn't know how much that small act would have brightened his day. Instead he let out a defeated sigh noting that he had been brushed off as soon as the chance came, though he did realise Sakura was waiting for him, it was only because she wanted something from him.

'Don't be such a Sasuke-teme, they just don't know you yet that's all, they'll come around!' Naruto announced to himself trying to re-energize his happy persona, with that, he walked towards the bridge and slumped down, not speaking to Sakura but making his presence clear.

"So…" she said awkwardly which Naruto was completely 'oblivious' to,
"did you mean what you said?" she asked after clearing her throat in attempt to grab the blondes attention that she already had.
"Yup." Naruto said casually, the pain in his heart coming back with force, he let it linger, it was strange, but he had come to like the feeling… it often meant he was sacrificing something to make others happy and that in turn made him happy.

That's right, every time he did something similar to what he was about to do, every time he killed his own happiness for the sake of another, which would definitely go unnoticed and un-appreciated this feeling would pay him a visit. First he felt the slight pull on his heart which then jump started the next sensation, the sinking feeling that he got in his stomach as a piece of his happiness was drowned out and sent to the depths of his soul. Next was perhaps the feeling he enjoyed, along with the first, the strange tickling in his throat that dared him to sob which was soon followed by the not so pleasant urge to cry.

"W-Well?" Sakura asked as nicely as she could, but she was becoming impatient, though she couldn't screw this up! Then a frown spread across her face.
"Let me guess… for you to tell me I have to go on a date with you." She said dryly as she looked at him with distaste.
"No! I was just thinking how to explain it to you." Naruto said quickly, surely she didn't think that lowly of him, and then again she was only asking, there was no need to be so defensive.
"Sorry, sorry…" he said with a sigh which confused her as she was about to apologise.

"You see… when you call Sasuke a name, or insult him then he will bite." He explained,
"Bite?" Sakura asked, confused by what he meant, Naruto scratched the back of his head before continuing his explanation, only in a better thought out manner.
"Well, he doesn't talk and he seems to get annoyed when you talk at him, but when you insult him, he'll talk back to you and even start conversations like he did with me about meditating, and eventually before you even know it you'll be talking all the time." Naruto explained in the happiest voice he could muster.

Sakura didn't notice his pain as she lapped up the information he had given her, it all made sense, it was perfect! Sasuke talks to Naruto way more than he talks to her, even if it is bickering that must be Sasuke's way of showing that he is some sort of strange friend of Naruto's.
"Great!" She announced and with that she soon disappeared without another word, Naruto stood up silently and after taking one last glance at the large open plain he headed towards the village.

His eyes were fixed on the dirt road below him, though he soon managed to tear them away, he didn't want to be questioned, scratch that, he didn't want people to think that he was weak or the glares would turn into something worse. He supressed a sigh as he looked around the busy village, people swarming the high street, wandering from shop to shop, going about their daily business, his attention soon wandered to the proud Hokage building, its grand red colour fitting for the fire nation.

'Nah, the old man is probably busy…I shouldn't bother him.' He thought as he headed down one of the less lively streets before turning to head down an alley, he often took this route home, but then he stopped deciding that there was no use in going home, if he did he could let his act wash away with his tears but it was too early for that just yet.

He was soon climbing steep, grey stone staircases which lead to the top of the Hokage monument, no one went up there, ever, which was something he seriously couldn't understand yet was thankful for. He sat atop the one of the great mountain carvings, upon the head of the Yondaime –ironic, the head of the man that had brought him so much pain also provided him with comfort.

He stared out down at the village, the hurt and pained feelings mounting up, yet he bottled them; he was just being weak. Down below looked like a perfect scene to him; he wished he could be a part of it, a welcomedpart of it. The people were happily wandering the streets, safe and protected by their valued shinobi as their cheery conversations filled the air with a nice atmosphere. The sun's rays beat down on the village casting a bright welcoming glow over it which caused Naruto to sigh and looked up at the crystal clear sky, not a cloud in sight, it was no wonder he was so hot.

'Some day… someday they'll welcome me, but for now I have to keep making people happy, no matter what.' Naruto thought to himself, determination flowing through him as he clenched his fist in a silent promise.

"I figured I'd find you here." Said a voice that he instantly recognised as Kakashi's, he turned his head slowly to look over his shoulder, doing his best to hide the fact that he had been scared out of his skin by the jonin.
"Kakashi-sensei? Uhh… oh I see. That's why you came." Naruto said while he smiled his fake smile like an expert, even Kakashi didn't see through it, instead he offered an eye smile which while seemed almost genuine, Naruto was able to see the irritation behind the man's act, as if just being near Naruto was a chore in itself.

"I just wanted to ask Sakura-chan on a date that's all…I just said those things about Sasuke so I'd get a chance to speak to her alone." Naruto said giving what he thought was a flawless downtrodden speech, of course the hokage would of seen through it, the old man actually cared about him, so he managed to catch his slip ups every now and again.

"I see, well if that's all, I'll be going." Kakashi said with the slightest edge which Naruto immediately found the hidden meaning to, something along the lines of 'I can't believe I wasted my time here.'
"Sorry sensei, I didn't mean to waste your time like that." The blonde said with a sad smile which made Kakashi release a guilty sigh, but didn't speak again before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto threw his arms behind him and let his head rest on his hands and he laughed with all that he had, it was the only thing he could do to stop himself from bursting into tears right then. After his laughter died down and he managed to lock away his emotions once more as he left the monument, and headed through the high street of the village, the glares and whispers stabbing at his defences as he walked along.

He came to a shop, a flower shop to be precise, if he remembered correctly it was owned by the Yamanaka clan, which the only member he knew was Ino…and they weren't exactly the best of friends; they weren't exactly friends at all. So she hated him, like everyone else, so what?
He stood there looking at the flowers out on display, he always had taken a liking to nature, and their bright colours entranced him and pulled his mind away from less pleasant subjects.

He heard a bell ring, the bell that signified the opening of the store's door, stood there leaning against the frame was Ino, looking at him as if it was the strangest thing in the world to see him examining the flowers.
"Naruto? What are you doing?" She asked in a voice that was too sweet for Naruto's taste, because it was hiding her anger, if Naruto had to guess he'd say she had become irritated by the fact that he hadn't just entered the store.
'Well guess what? I'm not allowed in the damn store!' he raged inwardly, his appearance on the outside still suggested that he had zoned out while looking at the nature on display.

"Oh, wow, I guess I completely zoned out, sorry if I bothered you Ino." He said before giving her a grin and then began to walk away, Ino smirked, a clear indication that Naruto had made her happy.
'That Naruto is such an idiot! I'm glad I don't have to be on a team with him!' Ino thought as she walked back inside, Naruto was long gone by then however.

Naruto wanted to visit Iruka, yet he didn't want to visit Iruka. His mind was torn between the two and of course he picked the answer that he thought would be best for everyone but himself, and headed to a rooftop that was perfect for watching the clouds.

He was walking up the stairs that led to the top, they were made of metal and were for fire escape purposes but went from ground level to the roof nonetheless, not wanting to be spotted he decided to use them instead of just jumping up, although when nearing the top he heard voices.

"Oi, Shikamaru…do you hear someone?" A voice which he recognised as Choji said,
"It's probably Naruto…troublesome." Shikamaru answered and as soon as he did the two heard the footsteps get further and further away as Naruto turned and left.

The blonde sighed, if he was going to be sad he might as well do it in the prime time location, he found himself outside the academy, sitting on a small wooden swing that was positioned in the shade, he watched on as they went about their happy lives, he felt like he was punishing himself as he forced himself to sit there and endure it like he always did, it was his fault for being weak but that's when he felt those eyes again, staring at him from a distance as they always did.

'God dammit I hate her! What the hell is wrong with her? Is she seriously so pathetic that she can't even talk to someone? ...' Naruto thought angry at the girl that always watched him from a distance but soon shook his head.
'That's not fair, she's shy, and I don't know anything about her who knows why she is like that.' He had thought of telling her that he knew she was there and that he found it unbelievably creepy but he couldn't bring himself to do it to the timid looking girl, she'd probably cry or at least be upset and that's not what he wanted, so he endured it.

He sat there for a couple of hours, crushing his own spirit with painful thoughts, questioning everything he wanted to do and replacing it with the harder, more painful choice each and every time. ' I should probably go home…why it's not like anybody is waiting for you there, just stay here.'
was just one of the many crushing blows, he stood up after feeling he had wallowed enough but cringed when the girl also stood.

He walked through the small patch of forest she was hiding in behind him, but she managed to slip off to the side, meaning unless he actually chased her, he wouldn't be able to confront her. Or would he? He lead her towards a training ground where he slumped down 'happily' and let out a defeated sigh as he looked up to the sky, he knew she was there but closed his eyes.
"I wish I had someone to talk to…" he said in a bored tone.

Hinata's eyes lit up with burning determination, 'Naruto-kun I will grant your wish!' she thought as she ran into the open, and slowly neared him.
"A-Ano…I, uhm…Y-You made it as a genin too Naruto-kun?" she asked nervously, expecting to be turned away with disgust like she was when she spoke to her father.

Naruto opened his eyes slowly, so that he didn't startle her, he cringed again at the thought of talking to his obvious stalker, but shoved it to the back of his mind.
"Yep! I'm a genin, are you a genin too…?" he asked not knowing the girls name; he could have sworn he knew it at one point but he tried to forget all about her, she nodded for her answer, not a great deal of help.

"Wow! You must be really strong then, especially since you're a Hyuuga, I bet you'll be the strongest one out of all them in no time!" he said happily with an indescribable amount of distaste hidden from her. She shook her head slowly.
"I-I'm …my father tells me that I am very weak and I am a disgrace to the Hyuuga clan." She said with no signs of hatred but simply hidden traces of sadness and shame.
'That one hurt.' Naruto thought as he felt guilty.

"Sometimes it's not fighting strength that's important, but the strength on the inside… those able to be selfless are truly strong, that's what I believe." He said sagely, his overly large grin present at the end of his sentence. Hinata blushed heavily, amazed by her Naruto-kun even more than usual, she sat down next to him in a daring act.
"I-I wish I could b-be like you Naruto-kun." She said quietly, but Naruto shook his head with a sad smile. "Trust me, you don't wanna be like me. It was nice meeting you, I hope we talk again some time." And with that he left. Hinata now had the burning desire to found out more about him, he was a mystery to her.

Naruto walked through the town; the clear sky had been getting slowly hidden by dark clouds, so he had decided to go home. Then he saw his teammates, Sasuke with a genuine smirk-smile on his face and Sakura looking as if she was about to burst with joy, they were walking towards him and he was walking towards them, they walked past him and he walked past them. Nothing.

He opened the door to his apartment, today had been hard, just like every day but now he was okay, he had passed his tests for today and now he will be able to celebrate how he always did, by breaking down and allowing himself to show his weakness, his twelve years of weakness, his painful existence and that's not even throwing in the added loneliness.

hours passed as he stared of out his window, it was raining heavily and the day had turned to night, the blackened sky spat out raindrops that fell through the pitch black night, Naruto watched as the droplets dance down his window without any form of resistance, his tears freely fell down his cheek and he leant his forehead against the glass.

'Do I like the rain? ...Yes, the rain is good, it's like its showing the world my feelings, something that I'll never do myself.' He mused but heard a knock at his door, he dried his tears quickly and soon it looked like they had never been there, he walked to the door and opened it to reveal his landlord.

"Hey kid. My friends are going to need this apartment tonight." The man said as a statement, not a question.
"That's alright, I'll get my coat." Naruto said with a smile, he walked into his room and pulled on his jacket and decided to take his headband with him.
"They'll be here for a week." The man stated, Naruto just nodded in agreement before three other men came into the room, two of them jumping on his couch and the other one raiding his cupboards, deciding not to watch any more Naruto turned to leave.

"Kid, here's one weeks' worth of rent, since you won't be living here for that time, you know you're a great kid, people could learn a lot from you." The man said with a smile, Naruto's face lit up with happiness and he gently nudged the man's outstretched hand away from him denying the money.
"Hearing that was worth more than a week's rent." He said softly as he walked out of the apartment, gently closing the door behind him until he heard the four men erupt into laughter.

"See what did I tell ya'!? You show him the slightest bit of kindness and you got him in the palm of ya' hands!" Naruto slammed his eyes shut, how could he have been so stupid? He let out a sigh and looked out into the night sky. 'It's a good job I like rain.' He thought as it pelted against his warm skin, cooling it. Although the night air was hot, the droplets were freezing causing the hot air to be of little relief to him.

Sitting in a tree, getting what little protection against the rain that he could, outside of the village of course, not like he would go there and think he would wake up in the morning if he fell asleep outside. No he was in the forest, like an animal. He laid against the tree with his back keeping him upright and closed his eyes, hoping sleep would capture him soon.

'I hope they're happy.'