The Book of Nariko Hayashi | Naruto OC

Meeting "The Problem Child"

It all started when I was seven years old, walking in the village with my aunt. It seemed like an event was going on that day as everyone was there having fun with their families and friends. My aunt and I just left Yamanaka Flowers, where we purchased flowers for my mom's birthday.

"Do you think she'll like them, auntie?", I questioned.

"Of course she will", she said in a calm voice following a soft smile. "Your mother loves your gifts no matter what they are."

I smiled at the thought and sighed happily. While walking, I saw this blonde kid that looked my age in front of us. He was staring at the ground mumbling something that I couldn't really understand. When he saw me and my aunt, he stopped and just stared; we stopped as well.

The boy then smiled and held his hand out to me, saying "Hi."

I reached my hand out to him before getting pulled away by my aunt. "Wha- auntie?" I looked up at her in confusion.

"Nariko, I'm so glad I pulled you away in time. I don't want you near that boy."

"What?" I looked at the boy. He seemed really nice and cool to play with. Suddenly, a few villagers crowded us and the blonde; they began to mumble things. "But- he looks fun."

She scoffed. "Fun? Sweetie, I didn't want to be the one to tell you this, but he's a pest. A disgrace here."

"A pest..?", the boy muttered.

After she said that, the villagers began to say similar things about the blonde. One said "He's a demon child. I'd never let my kid around him." Another said "He shouldn't be here. Go home, kid!"

The blonde groaned and went off on them. "I didn't even do anything! Why do you guys hate me so much?!" Everyone just looked at him and backed away, causing him to tear up. "All did was say hi.. I didn't mean to cause trouble."

I felt bad for him. I wanted to give him a hug, but my aunt was still holding my arm tightly that I couldn't go to him.

"Little boy, just don't do it again", my aunt said, as if he did anything bad. Like he said, all he did was say hi to me. Since when was greeting someone bad, I thought.

He nodded and quickly walked away, still having tears in his eyes; the villagers then went on with their day, forgetting the child already. My aunt let go of my arm and held my hand before walking; I walked with her, stop looking confused as to what happened.

"Auntie, who was that boy?"

"Honey, I told you he was a disgrace to the village."

"But.. he doesn't look like he's bad. Why did everyone treat him badly back there?"

She was silent for a moment. I'm guessing she didn't even know. "Because.. look, you're just a kid yourself. You should just be a kid. Think about how your mom will react when you give her the flowers."

I smiled, but immediately frowned. I couldn't just forget about what happened. That boy didn't deserve unnecessary hate. Even if I didn't know why everyone hated him doesn't mean that I should hate him too.

That's when I swore on my life, that I'd never treat anyone like that ever.
————————————————————————
When we got home, I gave my mother the flowers we got; she adored them and gave me a hug.

"Thank you so much, honey!", she gave me multiple kisses on my forehead. One kiss would be fine, thanks.

"You're welcome, mama", I said before pulling away from her hug. I felt the urge to tell her about the kid we saw earlier. "I met this blonde boy today! He seemed really fun, but auntie pulled me away from him."

"She did?", my mom glared at my aunt, but when my aunt leaned to her ear and whispered something, her face went from a glare back to the smile. "Oh! Well she did the right thing."

"Huh? But he looked like he was lost."

"Nariko, that's enough", my father walked in the room and looked at me. "It was the right thing to do. You'll understand when you're older, sweetie."

I never got the deal with what they were saying, so all I did was simply nod.

"Just don't go near that kid, got it?"

"Okay.."
————————————————————————
The next day, my family and I went out to the village for dango at the Dango Shop. While there, I saw that blonde boy again, looking around at the villagers. This time, the villagers didn't acknowledge him at all, like he was a ghost or something. The boy saw me looking and gave me that genuine smile, like he did yesterday. I couldn't help but to smile back.

"Nariko", my mother tapped on me to get my attention. "Would you like to get some ramen after this?"

My eyes lit up. "Yeah! I love ramen." She nodded and turned back to my father. When I looked at the blonde again, he was walking off into the forest.

..Why not follow him?, I thought.

And that's what I did. I left my parents to follow that boy that they told me to stay away from.

The blonde stopped at a tree and turned around to see me walking towards him. "Uh.. hey."

"Hey", I greeted. "I was meaning to say hi to you before yesterday, but my aunt told me that you were.."

"It's okay, I know", he cut me off, slightly frowning at the fact that I brought up that incident. Then, he smiled brightly at me. "My name's Naruto Uzamaki! What's yours?"

"..Nariko Hayashi."

"Hey.. our names kind of sound the same! Naruto and Nariko", he chuckled. I smiled a little. "Can we be friends? I know I can't go to your house or anything because your parents might kick me out.."

I thought about what my parents might think of me being friends with him, but simply didn't care. "We can secretly be friends, Naruto."

"Really?! Aw gee, thanks!", he hugged me tightly and sighed happily.

I hugged him back gently before hearing my mother call my name. "Oh- I have to go. I'll see you sometime.. tomorrow? Later?"

"Yeah, sure." He let go of me and waved. "See ya, new friend!"

"See ya." I walked away and repeated his name in my mind.

Naruto Uzamaki.