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It’ll be winter soon.
Naruto Uzumaki has never been fond of winter. He sees families bustling on the streets and it’s a painful reminder of what he has lost. Why did he have to be such a bad kid? Why does everyone hate him? His parents, would they have bundled him in scarfs and layered his clothes before he left in the morning?
It’s easier to ignore the haunting loneliness when everyone is indoors during the summer.
Leaves pile at the edge of the sidewalks, the trees are barren. Wind caresses his rosy cheeks, their affection leaves a cool sting. The boy with blond hair doesn’t seem to mind. When the wind ruffles through his hair, leaving it in disarray, he basks in it. Where else would he receive such affection?
He’s careful when he opens the front door. He squeezes in, only opening the door wide enough for him. The less the cold air comes in, the better. He does not have heating.
The boy, Naruto, huffs, placing his backpack by the shoe rack. He kicks off his shoes, wincing when they hit the wall with too much force.
He hurries to start stuffing a few shirts and hand towels underneath the front door to block the cold air. He has seen an employee at the orphanage do it once when their heater broke. That was before he was promptly kicked out nearing his fifth birthday.
He draws out a long sigh, mumbling under his breath about privileged clan kids. He does not take off his knitted gloves. How else will he keep his fingers warm?
Previously, he used thick socks as gloves, they were not practical. When he arrived at the academy the next day, he kept his hands stuffed in his pockets. He didn’t want to call attention to it, especially when kids went around bragging about their new gloves their parents bought them. How nice it must be.
When Naruto got home from the academy that day, he saw a new pair of black knitted gloves on his lone kitchen table. It could have only been the masked shinobi. He had cried that night, although instead of the usual sad tears, he was extremely grateful.
He stands up, his joints popping as he did so. He wonders how the Hokage felt if this was Naruto at six years old.
Naruto heads over to his room, flopping onto the bed. The room is bare. If you don't count the messy sheets, it’s like no one lived here.
He’d have to run to the store to grab ramen, seeing as he ran out last night. However, he doesn’t feel like dealing with the angry adults when he already met his quota at the academy. Not like he has enough money anyways.
His stomach protests, roaring and twisting. He’s so hungry. He’ll sleep off his hunger, sleep for dinner is all he can afford right now. It’s just one day anyways. Naruto will just pretend he’s on a diet like the girls in his class. Except, he very much does not want to impress Sasuke. Yuck!
Tomorrow is the start of a new month, Jiji will send him money. He always does.
It has been a long six years since starting the academy.
Naruto sits with his back against the trunk of a tree. His eyes trace the shape of the clouds.
It's the beginning of winter, they had their first snow not that long ago. He sighs, throwing his head back, wincing internally as his hair gets caught on the rough tree bark.
”Naruto.” A voice calls. This time there is no bite to it. It sounds almost fond. Naruto shakes that thought away because fond and Sasuke do not belong anywhere near each other. Sasuke is the type to eat hearts for every meal, Naruto shudders. Goosebumps run along his arm.
”Sasuke?” Naruto looks behind Sasuke, his eyes trying to find Sakura. Wherever Sasuke goes, Sakura follows. How annoying. Is Sasuke trying to rub it in? It’s one thing to hog Sakura’s attention but to be so smug about it? Ugh. Naruto really hates Sasuke.
“Your face.” Sasuke mentions, his eyebrows slightly furrowed in a contemplative expression.
Naruto’s eyes twitch. The audacity of this jerk. “What about my face?”
Sasuke’s lips struggle to fight off his amusement. It’s so like Naruto to get mad at everything he said just because it came from his mouth. Had it been Sakura or Kakashi-sensei who said the same thing, they’d be met with overwhelming adoration (Sakura) or confusion (Kakashi-sensei.)
“Oh yeah well your face…isss….thats besides the point.” Naruto huffs, turning away. He had trailed off when he couldn’t find anything to pick on. Damn Sasuke, you win this time. Curse your good genetics.
The boy with black hair smirks. He stuffs his hands in his pockets, leaning against an opposite tree. “Your freckles aren’t there?”
”My freckles?” Naruto asks, taken aback by the question. But he continues in stride, “They disappear in the winter. Something about their being less sun. I dunno.”
Sasuke hates winter. He should hate it because of how empty the clan compound can get and all the shoveling he has to do. That would be reasonable enough. No, he hates winter because Naruto’s freckles fade. The freckles his gaze often lingers on, tracing the way it contours Naruto’s cheeks. It’s dusted on his forehead, and even his shoulders, a pleasant surprise he found out.
Sasuke hopes they visit Sunagakure soon. Will he be able to see Naruto’s freckles then?
”Naruto had freckles?” Sakura asks, tilting her head, her hair sways along. Sasuke suppresses a flinch and Naruto lets out a shrill yelp. They hadn’t noticed her. Naruto points an accusing finger at her though they all know he’d let Sakura get away with anything. Sasuke wonders how it feels, to be the target of all of Naruto’s affection. Perhaps in his next life, he’ll be reborn as a girl.
Of course she wouldn’t know, Naruto thinks. He was surprised that Sasuke noticed but chalked it up to his sharingan.
Later, Sasuke is thrilled when Kakashi-sensei informs them of their mission in Sunagakure.