The guardian chronicles : Nirvana (Todoroki Shoto x Uzumaki Naruto)

Chapter 11

Why did everyone stop playing with me?

It was a question that plagued Naruto's mind as another kid refused to play with her. It was only the tenth time that she went to the playground and all those nice kids she played with, were now making up some excuses about why couldn't they play with her. We have enough players. It was the same number of players from a couple of days ago, so how could they say that they have enough players? She knows that they are lying to her.

She just doesn't know why.

"Sorry." A boy said but Naruto doesn't hear the sincerity behind his words. Naruto just flashed him a smile, pretending to understand just how hard it would be to let them play with her. She could not even throw a tantrum because the mothers were watching them now. Their cold eyes daring her to make a scene against their kids.

She was going to show them that she was not a monster.

Naruto looked around for another playmate. Most of the other kids seemed to be avoiding her eyes, but there was one kid that didn't even seem to pay much notice to her. He was just focused on the sand pit, making some kind of building.

She didn't like playing in the sand, but if that kid would play with her then Naruto would learn to like it. She would do anything to have one solid friend, even if it meant doing things that she did not like to do. It would be like learning to like milk even though Naruto found it disgusting the first time.

None of the parents paid much notice of Naruto as she skipped towards the black-haired boy. What do I do to get his attention? He seemed to be really focus on his building even though it did not even look all that pretty. She could make a way better one if you asked her. She was very creative or so the Hokage would say whenever Naruto handed him, her latest artwork.

She didn't understand what creative meant.

"Can I play with you?" Naruto decided that the old tactic was the best way of going with things. The black-haired boy looked up from his sand building, eyebrows furrowed at the sight of her and she flashed him a hopeful smile.

He didn't answer her immediately. The boy just stared at her, or rather he seemed to be paying a lot of attention to her hair. It did not surprise her. She might be six but Naruto knows that no one in their village had her hair colour. The colour of the sun. She does not remember who says it but Naruto thinks it must have been a kind, old lady.

Her heart ached like it always did whenever she thought of that kind, old lady.

Naruto tilted her head and was about to walk the other way. No answer meant that the boy probably did not want to play with her, which was weird. Boys, usually, liked to play with her since Naruto liked playing with the mud and doing all the things that little boys do.

Was that why they stopped playing with her? Their mother didn't like the fact she could not even act like a proper girl, despite having this annoying long hair. Naruto attempted to cut it once but something always stopped her.

"I am building a sand castle, help me build the tower!" Naruto smiled happily even though in the back of her mind, she felt annoyed at the orders being thrown at her. No one ordered her around. Not now and definitely not when she grew to be wrinkly and old like the Hokage, but Naruto wanted to play with the kid.

She would swallow her pride if it meant that she could play with him.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto but you can call me Naruto!"

Never Naru-chan.

Naru-chan was just for the Hokage. Naru-chan was the special name given to her by the kind, old lady and no one had the right to call her by that name. Naruto was good. Naruto was still her name but it made her feel powerful, made her feel strong. Naru-chan was a weak, little girl that ran away from the orphanage and never looked back.