Chapter Text
Naruto takes a walk around the village. People stare at him, they glare, they spit and they whisper. Some of them give him looks of pity. He doesn’t hate them though. He still wants to know why they hate him. He shivers and runs back to his apartment. He can’t say it’s his home but he tries to make it as such. Tears prickling his eyes, Naruto runs. Suddenly, everything goes white.
A soft melodious laugh echoes throughout the…room? Space? Where is he? Everything looks so…white. He doesn’t like it. He closes his eyes. He prefers the darkness over the blank. He feels himself enveloped in a pair of arms. “You’re safe here, little whirlpool” He shivers again but doesn’t open his eyes. He feels…safe.
He feels like a bad person for liking someone he doesn’t even know over the village he’s lived in his whole life. “It’s ok, darling” The sweet voice says again. It sounds to him like a female. He thinks for a moment. Maybe this lady doesn’t know who he is? Is that why she’s being so nice to him? It’s happened before and he has no doubt that it could happen again.
Very slowly, he opens his eyes. He blinks once. Twice. Thrice. The lady staring at him gives him a kind smile as his eyes adjust to the lighting. It’s a really pretty lady. She has beautiful red hair and kind sea blue eyes. That kindness won’t last for long, he told himself. Her red hair is set into neat space buns.
She has weird accessories in her hair, a few pins and two odd pieces of paper. The most eye catching thing, in his opinion, is the purple diamond on her forehead. He wonders about this for a moment before scrambling to get up, realising that she was still hugging him. “S-Sorry miss” he mumbles nervously.
She stands up with him, raising to her full height, and he notices she’s as tall as his Jiji. She doesn’t seem old, though. She looks to be around her twenties. “It’s alright, little whirlpool” she says, and he realised he had been staring. “What’s that diamond on your forehead, pretty lady?” He blurts out.
His eyes widen and fear overcomes him. Usually the ladies on the street get scared whenever he calls them pretty or gives them a compliment. He looks at her for a sign of fear but she simply laughs again.
“The diamond on my forehead is a very complicated seal. The seal holds vast amounts of chakra in it. It lets me do techniques that need a lot of chakra easier, but it requires absolutely perfect chakra control” she explained. Naruto’s eyes were even wider. People never explain things to him!
Whenever he doesn’t understand something or asks questions, everyone calls him dumb. “Do you know what chakra is, Naruto?” Asks the kind lady. Naruto shake his head no. “Chakra is a mix of spiritual and physical energy. It’s used for techniques like breathing fire or walking on water. Everybody has chakra but ninjas are usually the only ones who actually use it” she says.
Naruto’s eyes shine. He really wants to be a ninja in the future. “Does that mean you’re super strong then?” He asks, sudden realisation hitting him. “You’re a ninja?” She nods, smiling. “Could you please teach me a technique then? Pleaseee” he begs. He really really wants to learn something new.
She laughs again. “Why not?” She says, bending down and patting his head. He leans into her touch. He starts getting excited. No one teaches him any techniques. “What’s your name pretty lady?” He asks. “My name is Uzumaki Mito. Nice to meet you Naruto.”