Intermission: This Is Me, Naruto!

On the night before the graduation of the academy, inside a rundown apartment, you could see a single window from outside.

While most of the windows of the others were still bright from the lamp, there was one window that looked dark. Dark as in without light, and dark as in bleak full of sadness.

Behind that window, a pair of eyes could be seen taking a peek at the run-down street below. His eyes glistened with tears, his mouth shut, and his body shivered.

-Naruto POV-

Do you know?

I'm not a stranger to the dark...

Even before I was able to understand anything, I was shunned. I didn't know what did I do wrong, I didn't know what my mistake was, I never knew.

As far as I can remember, I have never known how comfortable a bed can be, I didn't know how does it feels to have my stomach full of warm foods, nor I know the joy of having someone that I can call a friend.

As far as I can remember, there's no 'light' that shone onto me.

'Hideaway', they say. 'We don't want your broken parts.'

Which part of me that actually broken? What sin did I commit that made me deserve to be beaten so badly?

I... I just want to be loved, to be safe from harm, to be accepted for who I am. Is that really a sin?

Oftentimes I saw men, women, and kids around my age go together. They laugh, they talk, they... are together. What differentiates between me and them? Why do they have loving families, and I don't... Why?

I've learned to be ashamed of all my scars...

Yes, I hide them all... At least if I tucked away my face, no one would recognize me and hit me with rage in their eyes. They're hurt, they're itchy, they are there as proof that I do not deserve to be loved, My scars.

'Runaway', they say. 'No one will love you as you are.'

What else can I do? fight back? I am but a child, and if I do fight back, there will be more of them that will come and hit me harder than the ones before them. No, I don't want that, it hurts...

I hated their gaze, they were looking at me like I was something disgusting, something that meant to be hated.

But, I... I won't let them break me down to dust!

I want to... There's something that I want to prove, I can't be destroyed like this. I will prove to them that I'm not a demon just like they said. If I succumb to their abuse, then I'll be a loser! And I don't want to be a loser!

I know that there's a place for me...

At least the old man, the Third Hokage, came from time to time to protect me. He gave me a small apartment for me to live in, this way I will have a place that I can call home. I know! If I become a Hokage, people will respect me! They will have no choice but to admit that I am a great person! Yes, that's it!

That way they will love me, and they won't hit me again!

For I am glorious!

I! WILL! BE! A! HOKAGE! No amount of obstacles will be able to hinder me! I will surmount the highest mountain between me and my dream! And I will swim in the ocean if it separates me from reaching my destination! Diss me, Insult me all you want! I will care no longer.

What words?! Ha! Insult me all you want, I've gone through much worse. It's so horrible that any words won't be able to hurt me! I'll drown you with my pranks instead! See that? Is that your shop? What will happen if I set fireworks inside? Hehe

I will not cower under pressure, so what if the world looks down on me? Ha! Watch me when I stand at the top, no one will hit me again! No one will look at me with a gaze full of hatred!

Let the world deny, let the world reject! I will overcome everything by myself, for I am the one and only, Uzumaki Naruto! The future Hokage!

---

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

Five more minutes...

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

Um?

What was that dream?

Back to sleep...

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

Yes yes...

[09.50]

Eh?

Crap! I'm late!

Sakura-chan would be so angry with me, today we were supposed to buy some ninja tools and go to the Chunin exam site in the afternoon!

That being said, I reached for my jacket and immediately rushed out.

Yes, I didn't wash my face.

Yes, I didn't brush my teeth.

But, so what?

Gotta go fast!

Sakura-chan is waiting!

---

-Third POV-

Not far from the gate of Konoha village, a pale man with a dark mark under his eyes was seen with two persons as his companions. On their forehead was a mark of a new hidden village, Otogakure, known as the hidden sound village.

"Tenzo, I assume you know what to do, don't you?"

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama!"

The pale man, Orochimaru disguised himself as one of the exam participants. In front of him, a white-haired man suddenly appeared and kneeled toward him. He wore glasses, and different from the others, his headband bore the mark of Konoha.

"Orochimaru-sama, welcome!"

Orochimaru nodded his head slightly in response, he then waved his hand before the white-haired man flickered away. Just then, they approached the gate of the village and gained an entry pass for them to keep while they were in Konoha as an identity card or some sort. Orochimaru gazed at Konoha with a weird gleam in his eyes, he stretched out his tongue and he licked his own lips slowly.

'I can't wait to get that boy's body... Kukukuku...'

"Let's take care of 'that' first..."

"As you wish, Orochimaru-sama!"

In another part of the village, near the market, a shrill shout from a certain pink-haired girl could be heard.

"NARUTO, YOU ARE STINK!!!"